Ecclesiastes 2
传道书 第二章
1 我心里说：“来吧，让我用喜乐试试你，使你享福！”看哪，这也是虚空。
2 论嬉笑，我说：“这是狂妄。” 论享乐，“这有什么用呢？”
3 我心以智慧引导我，我心里探究，如何用酒使身体舒畅，如何抓住愚昧，直等我看明世人在天下短暂一生中，当行何事为美。
4 我大兴土木，为自己建造房屋，栽葡萄园，
5 修造庭园和公园，在其中栽种各样果树，
6 挖造水池，用以灌溉林中的幼树。
7 我买了仆婢，也有生在家中的仆婢；又有许多牛群羊群，胜过我以前所有在耶路撒冷的人。
8 我为自己积蓄金银，搜集各君王、各省份的财宝；又为自己得男女歌手和世人所喜爱的物，以及一个又一个的妃嫔。
9 这样，我就日渐昌盛，胜过我以前所有在耶路撒冷的人。我的智慧仍然存留。
10 凡我眼所求的，我没有克制它；我心所乐的，我没有不享受。因我的心要为一切的劳碌快乐，这是我从一切劳碌中所得的报偿“报偿”或译“福分”；
11 后来，我回顾我手所经营的一切和我劳碌所做的工。看哪，全是虚空，全是捕风；在日光之下毫无益处。
12 我转而回顾智慧、狂妄和愚昧。在王以后来的人又如何呢？不过做先前所做的就是了。
13 于是我看出智慧胜过愚昧，如同光明胜过黑暗。
14 智慧人的眼目光明“光明”：原文是“在他头上”。，愚昧人却在黑暗里行。但我知道他们都有相同的遭遇。
15 我心里就说：“愚昧人所遇见的，我也一样遇见，那么我何必更有智慧呢？”我心里说：“这也是虚空。” 16智慧人和愚昧人一样，不会长久被人记念，因为日后都被遗忘。可叹！智慧人和愚昧人都一样会死亡。
17 于是我恨恶生命，因为在日光之下所发生的事我都以为烦恼，全是虚空，全是捕风。
18 我恨恶一切的劳碌，就是我在日光之下所劳碌的，因为我所得的必须留给我以后的人。
19 那人是智慧是愚昧，谁能知道呢？他竟要掌管我在日光之下用智慧劳碌所得的。这也是虚空。
20 我转想我在日光之下所劳碌的一切工作，心就绝望。
21 因为有人用智慧、知识、灵巧劳碌工作，所得来的却要遗留给未曾劳碌的人作产业。这也是虚空，大大不幸。
22 人一切的劳碌操心，就是他在日光之下所劳碌的，又得着了什么呢？
23 他日日忧虑，他的劳苦成为愁烦，连夜间心也不得休息。这也是虚空。
24 难道一个人有吃有喝，且在劳碌中享福，不是福气吗？我看这也是出于上帝的手。
25 论到吃用、享福，谁能胜过我呢？
26 上帝喜爱谁，就给谁智慧、知识和喜乐；惟有罪人，上帝使他劳苦，将他所储藏、所堆积的归给上帝所喜爱的人。这也是虚空，也是捕风。
讨论问题：
哪段话对你来说最有趣？为什么？
作者如何肯定和警告人们有关快乐的事情？
你是否能想起一个时刻，你觉得自己已经完成了当初设定的目标，然而随着时间的推移，你再次感到不满？你当时是如何做的？
作者在文章中提到了什么是关于劳碌？
什么是出自上帝的手？
在这一章中，对你而言最有意义的是什么？为什么？
1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless.
2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”
3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.
9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done?
13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.
15 Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.
19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?
26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Discussion Questions:
What verse is most interesting to you, why?
How does the writer affirm and warn about pleasures?
Can you think of a time where you felt you had accomplished what you set out to do, yet after some time passed that you became dissatisfied again? What did you do?
What did the writer say about tolling?
What is from the hand of God?
What is most meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?