7:1 良好的声誉胜于名贵的香液；死日胜于生日。
A good name is better than good ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. 7:2 往居丧的家，胜于往宴会的家，因为丧事是人人的结局，活人应将此事放在心上。
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, For that is the end of every man, and the living should take it to heart. 7:3 悲哀胜于欢笑，因为愁容能使心灵舒畅。
Sorrow is better than laughter, because when the face is sad the heart grows wiser. 7:4 智者的心是在居丧的家，愚人的心是在欢笑的家。
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 7:5 听智者斥责，胜过听愚人歌唱。
It is better to hearken to the wise man’s rebuke than to hearken to the song of fools; 7:6 愚人的欢笑，就像釜底荆棘的爆炸声，但这也是空虚。
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the fool’s laughter. 7:7 实在，压榨使智者昏愚，贿赂能败坏人心。
For oppression can make a fool of a wise man, and a bribe corrupts the heart. 7:8 事情的结局胜过事情的开端；居心宽容，胜过存心傲慢。
Better is the end of speech than its beginning; better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit. 7:9 你心里不要轻易动怒，因为愤怒只停留在愚人胸中。
Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for discontent lodges in the bosom of a fool. 7:10 你不要问：「为什么昔日胜于今日﹖」因为这样的诘问，不是出于智慧。
Do not say: How is it that former times were better than these? For it is not in wisdom that you ask about this. 7:11 智慧与家产都好，对看见天日的人都有益，
Wisdom and an inheritance are good, and an advantage to those that see the sun. 7:12 因为受智能的荫庇与受金钱的荫庇无异；但认识智慧的好处，是在于智慧赋于有智慧者生命。
For the protection of wisdom is as the protection of money; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. 7:13 你应观察天主的作为：他所弯曲的，谁能使之正直﹖
Consider the work of God. Who can make straight what he has made crooked? 7:14 幸福之日，你应欢乐，不幸之日，你应思虑：幸与不幸，都是天主所为；其目的是为叫人不能察觉自己将来的事。
On a good day enjoy good things, and on an evil day consider: Both the one and the other God has made, so that man cannot find fault with him in anything. 7:15 在我虚度的岁月内，我见了许多事：义人在正义中夭亡，恶人在邪恶中反而长寿。
I have seen all manner of things in my vain days: a just man perishing in his justice, and a wicked one surviving in his wickedness. 7:16 不要过于正义，也不要自作聪明，免得自趋灭亡。
"Be not just to excess, and be not overwise, lest you be ruined. 7:17 不要作恶无度，也不要糊涂太甚，免得你死非其时。
Be not wicked to excess, and be not foolish. Why should you die before your time?" 7:18 你的手最好把持这个，也不要放弃那个，因为敬畏天主的人，二者兼顾并重。
It is good to hold to this rule, and not to let that one go; but he who fears God will win through at all events. 7:19 智慧使智者的权势，胜过本城十个有权势的人。
Wisdom is a better defense for the wise man than would be ten princes in the city, 7:20 世上没有一个只行善，而不犯罪的义人。
yet there is no man on earth so just as to do good and never sin. 7:21 你不要倾心去听人说的一切闲话，免得你听到你的仆人诅咒你；
Do not give heed to every word that is spoken lest you hear your servant speaking ill of you, 7:22 因为你心里知道，你许多次也诅咒过别人。
for you know in your heart that you have many times spoken ill of others. 7:23 这一切我都用智慧追究过；我宣称我将成个智者，然而智慧仍离我很远。
All these things I probed in wisdom. I said, "I will acquire wisdom"; but it was beyond me. 7:24 所有的事，既深远，又玄奥，谁能穷究﹖
What exists is far-reaching; it is deep, very deep: who can find it out? 7:25 我又专心致力于认识、考察事物，寻求智慧和事理，得知邪恶就是昏愚，昏愚就是狂妄。
I turned my thoughts toward knowledge; I sought and pursued wisdom and reason, and I recognized that wickedness is foolish and folly is madness. 7:26 我发觉女人比死亡还苦，她一身是罗网：她的心是陷阱，她的手是锁链；凡博天主欢心的，必逃避她；但罪人却被她缠住。
More bitter than death I find the woman who is a hunter’s trap, whose heart is a snare and whose hands are prison bonds. He who is pleasing to God will escape her, but the sinner will be entrapped by her. 7:27 训道者说：看，这是我所发现的，一一加以比较，好探知事物的原理，
Behold, this have I found, says Qoheleth, adding one thing to another that I might discover the answer 7:28 对此我的心还在追求，但尚未找到：在一千男人中，我发现了一个；在所有的女人中，却没有发现一个。
which my soul still seeks and has not found: One man out of a thousand have I come upon, but a woman among them all I have not found. 7:29 我发现的只有这一件事：天主造人原很正直，但人却发明了许多诡计。
Behold, only this have I found out: God made mankind straight, but men have had recourse to many calculations.