Ecclesiastes 8
传道书 第八章
谁像智慧人，谁知道事情的解释呢？人的智慧使他容光焕发，使他脸上的戾气转消。
我劝你，因为你指著 神起了誓，你就要遵守王的命令。
不要轻率离开王的面前，也不要参与恶事，因为王可以随己意作任何事。
既然王的话有权柄，谁敢问他：“你在作甚麽？”
遵守命令的，必不遭受灾祸；智慧人的心，晓得时机，懂得判断。
各样事务成就，都有合宜的时机和定局，儘管人的灾祸重压在自己身上。
他不晓得未来的事，将来要发生甚麽，谁能告诉他呢？
没有人能支配风（“风”或译：“生命”），把它留住；没有人能控制死期；战争之时，没有人能免役；邪恶救不了行邪恶的人。
我看见了这一切，又专心查究在日光之下所发生的一切事。有这样的一个时候：有人管辖别人，叫他受害。
然後我看见恶人得以埋葬，他们生前在圣地往来，而在他们这样行的城中，竟被人遗忘。这也是虚空！（全节或译：“然後我看见恶人得以埋葬，他们生前在圣地往来，并且在他们这样行的城中，受人称讚。这也是虚空！”或“然後我看见恶人得以埋葬，归入坟墓；行正直的人却与圣地隔离，在城中被人遗忘。这也是虚空！”）
对恶行已判定的刑罚迟迟没有执行，世人的心就充满行恶的意图。
罪人既然作恶百次，还享长寿，那麽我知道敬畏 神的人，就是在他面前存敬畏的心的，必享福乐。
恶人却没有福乐，也得不到长寿；他好像影子的短暂，因为他在 神面前不存敬畏的心。
在世上有一件虚空的事，就是义人照恶人所行的受报应，恶人照义人所行的得报偿。我说，这也是虚空。
於是我称颂快乐，因为人在日光之下最好是吃喝快乐。这是人在日光之下， 神赐给他一生的年日里，从自己劳碌中所得的享受。
我专心认识智慧，察看世上的劳碌──有人昼夜不眠──
於是我看见了 神的一切作为，知道在日光之下所发生的事，人不能查明；儘管人劳碌寻查，总是查不出来；即使智慧人以为知道了，还是查不出来。
讨论问题：
谁是国王？ 一个人为什么要服从国王？
第11节中，如果不及时处理“犯罪”，会发生什么？
恶人能否在短期内欺骗正义？ 从长远来看呢？
读第15节，作者称赞什么？ 一个人的一生将会发生什么？
当我们无法理解日光之下所发生的一切时，我们如何才能找到安慰呢？对上帝的信仰有何帮助？
本章对你来说最有意义的是什么？ 为什么？
Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.
Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God.
Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.
Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.
Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.
Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—
then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
Discussion Questions:
1. Who is the king? Why should a person obey the king?
2. In verse 11, what happens when "crime" isn't dealt with in a timely manner?
3. Can the wicked person cheat justice in the short term? What about in the long term?
4. Read verse 15, what is the writer commending? What will happen to a person's life?
5. How do we find comfort when we cannot comprehend all that goes on under the sun? How does faith in God help?
6. What is most meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?