传道书 1
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
万事虚空
1 以下是在耶路撒冷做王的大卫之子——传道者的话。
2 传道者说：虚空的虚空，
虚空的虚空，一切都是虚空。
3 人在日光之下的一切劳碌有什么益处呢？
4 一代过去，一代又来，
大地却永远长存。
5 太阳升起，太阳落下，
匆忙回到升起之地。
6 风吹向南，又转向北，
循环不息，周而复始。
7 江河涌流入海，海却不会满溢；
江河从何处流出，又返回何处。
8 万事令人厌烦，人述说不尽。
眼看，看不饱；
耳听，听不够。
9 以往发生的事，将来还会发生；
先前做过的事，将来也必再做。
日光之下，根本没有新事。
10 人可以指着哪件事说：
“看啊，这是新事”？
所谓的新事在我们以前早就有了。
11 过去的事无人记得，
将来的事后人也不记得。
智慧之虚空
12 我传道者曾在耶路撒冷做以色列的王。 13 我专心用智慧去研究、探索天下各样的事，发现上帝给世人的是极重的苦工。 14 我观察一切日光之下所做的事，看啊，都是虚空，好像捕风。 15 弯曲的不能变直，缺少的无法补足[a]。 16 我心里想：“我获得极大的智慧，远超过以前统治耶路撒冷的人。我拥有丰富的智慧和知识。” 17 我又专心察明智慧和知识、狂妄和愚昧，却发现这也是捕风。 18 因为智慧越高，愁烦越多；知识越多，痛苦越深。
Footnotes
- 1:15 “补足”希伯来文是“数算”。
Ecclesiastes 1
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Heading
1 The words of Ecclesiastes,[a] David’s son, king in Jerusalem.
The Problem
2 “Nothing but vapor,”[b] Ecclesiastes said. “Totally vapor. Everything is just vapor that vanishes.”
3 What does anyone gain by all his hard work, at which he works hard under the sun? 4 A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth keeps standing forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets. It hurries back, panting and out of breath, to its starting point, where it rises again. 6 The wind goes round and round. Blowing south, then blowing north, the wind keeps going around in circles. 7 All streams keep flowing to the sea, but the sea is never full. The streams keep coming back to the same place, and then they flow out again.
8 Everything is tedious and tiresome, more than one can tell. No eye ever sees enough, and no ear ever gets its fill of hearing.
9 Whatever has been is what will be again, and whatever has already been done is what will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a single thing about which one can say, “Look, this is new”? It was already here ages ago, long before us. 11 No one remembers the people who[c] came before us, and as for those who are coming—after they are gone, no one will remember them either.
Search for a Solution
12 I, Ecclesiastes, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my heart to seek out and explore with wisdom everything done under the sky.[d] (What a burdensome task[e] God has given the children of Adam to keep them busy!) 14 I have seen all the actions done under the sun, and, look, it is all nothing but vapor. It is all chasing the wind. 15 Whatever is crooked cannot be straightened. Whatever is not there cannot be counted.
16 I thought in my heart, “Look, I have become great and accumulated more wisdom than anyone ruling over Jerusalem before me. My mind[f] has absorbed so much wisdom and knowledge.” 17 I applied my heart to understand wisdom and knowledge, madness and stupidity. I realized that this too is chasing the wind. 18 In fact, with much wisdom comes much frustration.[g] The more knowledge, the more pain!
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:1 See the introduction on the origin and meaning of the name Ecclesiastes.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 Other possible translations are mist, breath, futility, or emptiness. Since vapor does not last, it serves as an appropriate symbol for everything that is transient, futile, or useless.
- Ecclesiastes 1:11 Or the events that
- Ecclesiastes 1:13 Or the heavens
- Ecclesiastes 1:13 Or rotten business
- Ecclesiastes 1:16 Literally heart. In Hebrew thought, the heart is the center not only of emotion but also of the intellect.
- Ecclesiastes 1:18 Or grief
Ecclesiastes 1
New King James Version
The Vanity of Life
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, (A)king in Jerusalem.
3 (D)What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he [b]toils under the sun?
4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
(E)But the earth abides forever.
5 (F)The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And [c]hastens to the place where it arose.
6 (G)The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.
7 (H)All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.
8 All things are [d]full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
(I)The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 (J)That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which it may be said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
11 There is (K)no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.
The Grief of Wisdom
12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my heart to seek and (L)search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; (M)this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be [e]exercised. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
15 (N)What is crooked cannot be made straight,
And what is lacking cannot be numbered.
16 I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained (O)more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has [f]understood great wisdom and knowledge.” 17 (P)And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.
18 For (Q)in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 Or Absurdity, Frustration, Futility, Nonsense; and so throughout the book
- Ecclesiastes 1:3 labors
- Ecclesiastes 1:5 Is eager for, lit. panting
- Ecclesiastes 1:8 wearisome
- Ecclesiastes 1:13 Or afflicted
- Ecclesiastes 1:16 Lit. seen
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
