So I said,“ Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”

我指嬉笑说：“这是狂妄。”论喜乐说：“有何功效呢？”

论嬉笑，我说：“这是狂妄。”论享乐，“这有什么用呢？”

论嬉笑，我说：“这是狂妄。”论享乐，“这有什么用呢？”

我说：“欢笑只不过是一阵狂妄，享乐又有什么用！”

对嬉笑，我说：“那是狂妄”；对享乐，我说：“这有什么作用呢？”

论到欢笑，我说：“这是发狂”；论到享乐，我说：“这有什么用呢？”

我指嬉笑說：「這是狂妄。」論喜樂說：「有何功效呢？」

論嬉笑，我說：「這是狂妄。」論享樂，「這有甚麼用呢？」

論嬉笑，我說：「這是狂妄。」論享樂，「這有甚麼用呢？」

我說：「歡笑只不過是一陣狂妄，享樂又有什麼用！」

對嬉笑，我說：“那是狂妄”；對享樂，我說：“這有甚麼作用呢？”

我指着嬉笑說：『這是狂妄』；指着喜樂說：『這有甚麼作用？』

論到歡笑，我說：「這是發狂」；論到享樂，我說：「這有什麼用呢？」

我謂嬉笑為狂、逸樂何益、

我言嬉戲惟狂、宴樂無益。

我言嬉笑為狂、宴樂何為、

“ Laughter,” I said,“ is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”

“ Laughter doesn’t make any sense,” I said.“ And what can pleasure do for me?”

I said of laughter,“ It is mad,” and of pleasure,“ What use is it?”

I said about laughter,“ It is madness,” and about pleasure,“ What does this accomplish?”

I said of laughter,“ It is senseless,” and of pleasure,“ What does this accomplish?”

I said of laughter—“ Madness!”; and of mirth,“ What does it accomplish?”

I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?

I said about laughter,“ It is madness,” and about pleasure,“ What does this accomplish?”

I said of laughter,[ It is] mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

I said of partying,“ It is folly,” and of self-indulgent pleasure,“ It accomplishes nothing!”

I said of laughter,“ It is foolishness;” and of mirth,“ What does it accomplish?”

Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.

Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart.Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.A fool’s laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire. This also is meaningless.

You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy— their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.

You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.How terrible for you who sprawl on ivory beds and lounge on your couches, eating the meat of tender lambs from the flock and of choice calves fattened in the stall.You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David.You drink wine by the bowlful and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions. You care nothing about the ruin of your nation.

At that time the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.But instead, you dance and play; you slaughter cattle and kill sheep. You feast on meat and drink wine. You say,“ Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”