4:1 我又转目注视在太阳下所行的一切暴行：看，受压迫者眼泪汪流，却无人安慰；压迫人者有权势，他们却无人援助。
Again I considered all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them! 4:2 于是我声称那已死去的人，比现今还活着的人更为有福。
And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive. 4:3 那还没有出世的人，比这两等人更为有福，因为他还没有见到太阳下所行的恶事。
And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun. 4:4 我也看出各种劳苦和一切工作的技巧，都是出于人彼此间的竞争：这也是空虚，也是追风。
Then I saw that all toil and skillful work is the rivalry of one man for another. This also is vanity and a chase after wind. 4:5 愚人交臂叉手，是自食己肉。
"The fool folds his arms and consumes his own flesh" ? 4:6 捧一把安逸，胜过两把劳苦和追风。
Better is one handful with tranquility than two with toil and a chase after wind! 4:7 我又转睛，看见在太阳下有件空虚的事：
Again I found this vanity under the sun: 4:8 有个孤独无伴的人，既没有儿子，又没有兄弟，却时常劳苦不息，他的眼总是贪得无厌，从来不问：「我辛辛苦苦，节制享乐，究竟是为谁﹖」这也是空虚和大不幸。
a solitary man with no companion; with neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and riches do not satisfy his greed. "For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good things?" This also is vanity and a worthless task. 4:9 两个人胜于一个人，因为两人一同工作，酬报优厚：
Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor. 4:10 若一个跌倒了，另一个可扶起自己的同伴。哀哉孤独者!他若跌倒了，没有另一人扶起他来。
If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion. Woe to the solitary man! For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up. 4:11 又如两人同眠，都感温暖；若孤独一人，怎能暖和﹖
So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm? 4:12 若一人抵不住一人，两人就能抵住：──三股绳，不易断。
Where a lone man may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken. 4:13 一个贫寒而明智的青年，胜过一个年老昏愚，而总不采纳忠言的君王。
Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows caution; 4:14 这青年虽在国中出身贫寒，但由狱中出来，执政为王；
for from a prison house one comes forth to rule, since even in his royalty he was poor at birth. 4:15 我看见一切在太阳下行走的活人，都拥护青年人，新继位者，来代替老王。
Then I saw all those who are to live and move about under the sun with the heir apparent who will succeed to his place. 4:16 拥护他为领袖的人民，多得无数；但日后，那些后来的人却不喜欢他：这也是空虚，也是追风。
There is no end to all these people, to all over whom he takes precedence; yet the later generations will not applaud him. This also is vanity and a chase after wind. 4:17 你往天主的殿里去时，要小心迈步；你前去听道，胜过愚人献祭，因为他们只知作恶。
Guard your step when you go to the house of God. Let your approach be obedience, rather than the fools' offering of sacrifice; for they know not how to keep from doing evil.