传道书 8
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
8 谁像有智慧的人呢？
谁知道事情的原委呢？
智慧能使人容光焕发，
使冷酷的面孔柔和。
2 我劝你遵守王的命令，因为你曾在上帝面前这样发誓。 3 不要在王面前鲁莽行事，也不要参与恶行，因为王可以随意行事。 4 况且，王的命令至高无上，谁敢质问他呢？ 5 遵从王命的必免遭祸患，因为智者心里懂得做事的时机和方法。 6 尽管人面临重重困难，但做任何事都有时机和方法。 7 无人知道未来的事，谁能告诉人将来的事呢？ 8 无人能掌管生命[a]，留住生命，也无人能掌管死期。无人能免于这场争战，邪恶也救不了作恶者。 9 这一切我都见过了，我用心思考日光之下的一切事。有时人欺压人、伤害人。 10 我看见恶人生前出入圣所，死后安葬，还在他们作恶的城中受到称赞，这也是虚空。 11 对犯罪者的刑罚不迅速执行，世人便尽情作恶。 12 虽然罪人作恶多端仍得长寿，我却认为敬畏上帝的人必亨通。 13 然而，恶人得不到祝福，他们必像幻影一样不能长久，因为他们不敬畏上帝。 14 世上有一件虚空的事，就是义人遭受了恶人当受的报应，恶人却享受了义人该享的福乐。我认为这也是虚空。 15 因此，我便赞赏享乐，因为在日光之下没有什么比吃喝快乐更好。这是人在上帝所赐的年日里，从劳碌中当得的享受。 16 我全心去寻求智慧，观察世上所发生的事，甚至昼夜不眠， 17 思想上帝所做的一切，便知道人无法理解日光之下所发生的事。尽管人努力不懈地去寻找，也不能明白；即使智者自以为明白，他其实仍不能参透。
Footnotes
- 8:8 “生命”也可译作“风”或“气息”。
Ecclesiastes 8
Expanded Bible
Obey the King
8 ·No one [L Who…?] is like the wise person
who ·can understand what things mean [L knows the interpretation of a matter?].
Wisdom ·brings happiness [L brightens one’s face];
it ·makes sad faces happy [L changes his stern/hard expression].
2 ·Obey [Keep; or I obey/keep] the king’s command, because ·you made a promise [of your oath] to God. 3 ·Don’t be too quick to leave the king [or You should leave his presence]. Don’t ·support something that is wrong [persist in an evil matter], because the king does whatever he ·pleases [wants]. 4 What the king says is ·law [supreme]; no one ·tells him what to do [L says to him, “What are you doing?].
5 Whoever obeys the king’s command ·will be safe [experiences no harm/evil].
A wise ·person does [L heart knows] the right thing at the right time.
6 There is a right time and a right way for everything [3:1–8; Prov. 15:23],
yet people often have many troubles.
7 They do not know what the future holds,
and no one can tell them ·what [or when it] will happen.
8 No one ·can control the wind [L has power over the wind to restrain the wind]
or ·stop his own [L power over the day of] death.
No soldier is ·released [discharged] ·in times of war [during the battle],
and evil does not ·set free [rescue] ·those who do evil [L its owner].
Justice, Rewards, and Punishment
9 I saw all of this as I ·considered [L gave my heart to] all that is done here ·on earth [L under the sun; 1:3]. Sometimes people harm those they control. 10 I saw ·the funerals of evil people [L the wicked buried and departed] who used to go in and out of the holy place [C the Temple]. They were ·honored [praised] in the same towns where they had done evil. This is useless [1:2], too [C it is not fair that the wicked thrive in life and are praised after they die].
11 When ·evil people are not punished [L the sentence for an evil deed is not carried out] right away, ·it makes others want to do evil, too [L the human heart is filled with evildoing]. 12 Though a sinner might do a hundred evil things and ·might live a long time [L their days are lengthened], I know it will be better for those who ·honor God [L fear God because they fear him]. 13 I also know it will not go well for evil people, because they do not ·honor [fear] God. Like a shadow, ·they will not last [L their days will not be lengthened]. 14 Sometimes something useless [1:2] happens on earth. ·Bad things happen to good people [L There are righteous people who are treated as if they did wicked deeds], and ·good things happen to bad people [L wicked people who are treated as if they did righteous deeds]. I say that this is also useless [1:2]. 15 So I ·decided it was more important to enjoy life [commended/praised pleasure]. ·The best that people can do [L There is nothing better] ·here on earth [L under the sun; 1:3] ·is [or than] to eat, drink, and ·enjoy life [have pleasure], because these joys will help them do the ·hard work [toil] God gives them ·here on earth [L under the sun; 2:24–26; 3:12–14, 22; 5:18–20; 9:7–10; C the little pleasures are distractions from the meaningless world].
We Cannot Understand All God Does
16 I ·tried to understand [L gave my heart to know] all that happens on earth. ·I saw how busy people are, working day and night and hardly ever sleeping [L No one sleeps day or night]. 17 I also saw all that God has done. Nobody can ·understand [comprehend; L find] what God does ·here on earth [L under the sun; 1:3]. No matter how hard people try to ·understand [L find] it, they cannot. Even if wise people say they understand, they cannot; no one can really ·understand [L find] it.
Ecclesiastes 8
Amplified Bible
Obey Rulers
8 Who is like the wise man?
And who knows the interpretation of a matter?
A man’s wisdom illumines his face,
And causes his stern face to beam.
2 I counsel you to keep the command of the king because of the oath before God [by which you swore loyalty to him].(A) 3 Do not be in a hurry to get out of his presence. Do not join in a malevolent matter, for the king will do whatever he pleases.
4
For the word of a king is authoritative and powerful,
And who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
5
Whoever keeps and observes a royal command will experience neither trouble nor misery;
For a wise heart will know the [a]proper time and [appropriate] procedure.
6
For there is a [b]proper time and [appropriate] procedure for every delight,
Though mankind’s misery and trouble lies heavily upon him [who rebels against the king].
7
For no one knows what will happen;
So who can tell him how and when it will happen?
8
There is no man who has power and authority over the wind to restrain the wind,
Nor does he have authority over the day of death;
There is no discharge [from service] during time of war,
And evil will not rescue those who [actively seek to] practice it.
9 All this I have seen while applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has exercised power over others to their detriment.
10 So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place [but did not thereby escape their doom], and they are [praised in spite of their evil and] soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility (vanity, emptiness). 11 Because the sentence against an evil act is not executed quickly, the hearts of the sons of men are fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life [seemingly] is prolonged [in spite of his wickedness], still I know that it will be well with those who [reverently] fear God, who fear and worship Him openly [realizing His omnipresence and His power].(B) 13 But it will not be well for the evil man, nor will he lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.(C)
14 There is a meaningless and futile thing which is done on the earth: that is, there are righteous men whose gain is as though they were evil, and evil men whose gain is as though they were righteous. I say that this too is futility (meaningless, vain). 15 Then I commended pleasure and enjoyment, because a man [without God] has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for this will stand by him in his toil through the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the activities [of mankind] that take place upon the earth—how some men seem to sleep neither day nor night— 17 and I saw all the work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though man may labor in seeking, he will not discover; and [more than that], though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, he will not be able to find it out.(D)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 8:5 Lit time and judgment.
- Ecclesiastes 8:6 Lit time and judgment.
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
