| 1 | 在耶路撒冷作王,大卫的儿子,传道者的言语。
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
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| 2 | 传道者说,虚空的虚空,虚空的虚空。凡事都是虚空。
"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
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| 3 | 人一切的劳碌,就是他在日光之下的劳碌,有什么益处呢?
What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
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| 4 | 一代过去,一代又来。地却永远长存。
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
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| 5 | 日头出来,日头落下,急归所出之地。
The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
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| 6 | 风往南刮,又向北转,不住地旋转,而且返回转行原道。
The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
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| 7 | 江河都往海里流,海却不满。江河从何处流,仍归还何处。
All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
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| 8 | 万事令人厌烦。(或作万物满有困乏)人不能说尽。眼看,看不饱,耳听,听不足。
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
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| 9 | 已有的事,后必再有。已行的事,后必再行。日光之下并无新事。
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
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| 10 | 岂有一件事人能指着说,这是新的。哪知,在我们以前的世代,早已有了。
Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
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| 11 | 已过的世代,无人记念,将来的世代,后来的人也不记念。
There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.
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| 12 | 我传道者在耶路撒冷作过以色列的王。
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
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| 13 | 我专心用智慧寻求查究天下所作的一切事,乃知神叫世人所经练的,是极重的劳苦。
I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!
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| 14 | 我见日光之下所作的一切事,都是虚空,都是捕风。
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
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| 15 | 弯曲的不能变直,缺少的不能足数。
What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
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| 16 | 我心里议论,说,我得了大智慧,胜过我以前在耶路撒冷的众人。而且我心中多经历智慧,和知识的事。
I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge."
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| 17 | 我又专心察明智慧,狂妄,和愚昧。乃知这也是捕风。
Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
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| 18 | 因为多有智慧,就多有愁烦。加增知识的,就加增忧伤。
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
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