Ecclesiastes 传道书07

7A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.
3Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5It is better to heed¹ a wise man's rebuke² than to listen to the song of fools.
6Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.
7Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe³ corrupts⁴ the heart.
8The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.
11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.
12Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
13Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked⁵?
14When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
15In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
16Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise- why destroy yourself?
17Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool- why die before your time?
18It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes .
19Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.
20There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
21Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you-
22for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined⁶ to be wise"- but this was beyond me.
24Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound- who can discover it?
25So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly⁷.
26I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare⁸, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
27"Look," says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things-
28while I was still searching but not finding- I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.
29This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."

1 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

2 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

3 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

4 corrupts   

（使）败坏( corrupt的第三人称单数 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The unrighteous penny corrupts the righteous pound. 不正当得来的便士使正当得来的英镑也受到玷污。
• Blue cinema corrupts the souls of people. 黄色电影腐蚀人们的灵魂。

5 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

8 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。