9:1 我留心考察这一切，终于看出：义人、智者和他们的行为，都在天主手里；是爱是恨，人不知道；二者都能来到他们身上。
All this I have kept in mind and recognized: the just, the wise, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Love from hatred man cannot tell; both appear equally vain, 9:2 无论是义人，是恶人，是好人，是坏人，是洁净的人，是不洁净的人，是献祭的人，是不献祭的人，都有同样的命运；好人与罪人一样，妄发誓的与怕发誓的也一样。
in that there is the same lot for all, for the just and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for him who offers sacrifice and him who does not. As it is for the good man, so it is for the sinner; as it is for him who swears rashly, so it is for him who fears an oath. 9:3 太阳之下所发生的一切事中，最不幸的是众人都有同样的命运；更有甚者，世人的心都充满邪恶，有生之日，心怀狂妄，以后与死者相聚。
Among all the things that happen under the sun, this is the worst, that things turn out the same for all. Hence the minds of men are filled with evil, and madness is in their hearts during life; and afterward they go to the dead. 9:4 的确，谁尚与活人有联系，还怀有希望，因为一只活狗胜过一只死狮。
Indeed, for any among the living there is hope; a live dog is better off than a dead lion. 9:5 活着的人至少自知必死，而死了的人却一无所知；他们再得不到报酬，因为连他们的记念也被人遗忘。
For the living know that they are to die, but the dead no longer know anything. There is no further recompense for them, because all memory of them is lost. 9:6 他们的爱好，他们的憎恨，他们的热诚，皆已消失；在太阳下所发生的一切事，永远再没有他们的分。
For them, love and hatred and rivalry have long since perished. They will never again have part in anything that is done under the sun. 9:7 你倒不如去快乐地吃你的饭，开怀畅饮你的酒，因为天主早已嘉纳你所作的工作。
Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is now that God favors your works. 9:8 你的衣服常要洁白，你头上总不缺少香液。
At all times let your garments be white, and spare not the perfume for your head. 9:9 在天主赐你在太阳下的一生虚幻岁月中，同你的爱妻共享人生之乐：这原是你在太阳下，一生从劳苦中所应得的一分。
Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of the fleeting life that is granted you under the sun. This is your lot in life, for the toil of your labors under the sun. 9:10 你手能做什么，就努力去做，因为在你所要去的阴府内，没有工作，没有计划，没有学问，没有智慧。
Anything you can turn your hand to, do with what power you have; for there will be no work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the nether world where you are going.... 9:11 我又在太阳下看见：善跑的不得竞赛，勇将不得参战，智者得不到食物，明白人得不到财富，博学者得不到宠幸，因为他们都遭遇了不幸的时运。
Again I saw under the sun that the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the valiant, nor a livelihood by the wise, nor riches by the shrewd, nor favor by the experts; for a time of calamity comes to all alike. 9:12 因为人不知道自己的时期，当凶险猝然而至的时候，人子为不幸的时运所获，就像鱼被网捕住，又像鸟被圈套套住。
Man no more knows his own time than fish taken in the fatal net, or birds trapped in the snare; like these the children of men are caught when the evil time falls suddenly upon them. 9:13 在太阳下我又得了一个智慧的经验，依我看来，大有意义：
On the other hand I saw this wise deed under the sun, which I thought sublime. 9:14 有座小城，里面居民不多；有位大王来攻打此城，把城围住，周围筑了高垒。
Against a small city with few men in it advanced a mighty king, who surrounded it and threw up great siegeworks about it. 9:15 那时，城中有个贫贱却具有智慧的人，他用自己的智慧，救了本城：可是人们却忘了这贫贱的人。
But in the city lived a man who, though poor, was wise, and he delivered it through his wisdom. Yet no one remembered this poor man. 9:16 于是我说：智慧远胜过武力；然而贫贱人的智慧却被人轻忽，他的话却没有人聆听。
Though I had said, "Wisdom is better than force," yet the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words go unheeded. 9:17 智者温和的言语，比王者在愚人中的吶喊，更受欢迎。
"The quiet words of the wise are better heeded than the shout of a ruler of fools" ?! 9:18 智慧胜于武器；一个错误能破坏许多好事。
"A fly that dies can spoil the perfumer’s ointment, and a single slip can ruin much that is good."