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Ecclesiastes 4

Latin original · 17 verses · some words can be tapped for a gloss

📖 This chapter exists in 3 other originals — side by side (Hebrew Old Testament, Septuagint, Ge'ez Bible)

ℹ️ This corpus has no morphological tagging. Glosses are matched by word form against a dictionary — a match does not prove it is the same word (an inflected form can coincide with another word’s lemma). Verify against the original and a specialist lexicon where precision matters.

⚠️ The Chinese and English alongside are the CUV and the WEB, both translated from the Masoretic Text; they follow a different textual tradition from the Greek and Latin shown here and will disagree in places.

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4:1

Verti me ad alia, et vidi calumnias quae sub sole geruntur, et lacrimas innocentium, et neminem consolatorem, nec posse resistere eorum violentiae, cunctorum auxilio destitutos,

Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

我又轉念，見日光之下所行的一切欺壓。看哪，受欺壓的流淚，且無人安慰；欺壓他們的有勢力，也無人安慰他們。

4:2

et laudavi magis mortuos quam viventes ;

Therefore I praised the dead who have been long dead more than the living who are yet alive.

因此，我讚歎那早已死的死人，勝過那還活着的活人。

4:3

et feliciorem utroque judicavi qui necdum natus est, nec vidit mala quae sub sole fiunt.

Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

並且我以為那未曾生的，就是未見過日光之下惡事的，比這兩等人更強。

4:4

Rursum contemplatus sum omnes labores hominum, et industrias animadverti patere invidiae proximi ; et in hoc ergo vanitas et cura superflua est.

Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

我又見人為一切的勞碌和各樣靈巧的工作就被鄰舍嫉妒。這也是虛空，也是捕風。

4:5

Stultus complicat manus suas, et comedit carnes suas, dicens :

The fool folds his hands together and ruins himself.

愚昧人抱着手，吃自己的肉。

4:6

Melior est pugillus cum requie, quam plena utraque manus cum labore et afflictione animi.

Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind.

滿了一把，得享安靜，強如滿了兩把，勞碌捕風。

4:7

Considerans, reperi et aliam vanitatem sub sole.

Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.

我又轉念，見日光之下有一件虛空的事：

4:8

Unus est, et secundum non habet, non filium, non fratrem, et tamen laborare non cessat, nec satiantur oculi ejus divitiis ; nec recogitat, dicens : Cui laboro, et fraudo animam meam bonis ? In hoc quoque vanitas est et afflictio pessima.

There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then do I labor and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

有人孤單無二，無子無兄，竟勞碌不息，眼目也不以錢財為足。他說：「我勞勞碌碌，刻苦自己，不享福樂，到底是為誰呢？」這也是虛空，是極重的勞苦。

4:9

Melius est ergo duos esse simul quam unum ; habent enim emolumentum societatis suae.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

兩個人總比一個人好，因為二人勞碌同得美好的果效。