闵予小子，遭家不造，嬛嬛在疚。 于乎皇考，永世克孝，念兹皇祖，陟降庭止。 维予小子，夙夜敬止。 于乎皇王，继序思不忘。
Alas for me, who am a little child, On whom has devolved the unsettled state! Solitary am I and full of distress. Oh! my great Father, All thy life long, thou wast filial. Thou didst think of my great grandfather, (Seeing him, as it were) ascending and descending in the court, I, the little child, Day and night will be as reverent. Oh! ye great kings, As your successor, I will strive not to forget you.
访予落止，率时昭考。 于乎悠哉！朕未有艾。将予就之，继犹判涣。 维予小子，未堪家多难。绍庭上下，陟降厥家。 休矣皇考！以保明其身。
I take counsel at the beginning of my (rule), How I can follow (the example of) my shrined father. Ah! far-reaching (were his plans), And I am not yet able to carry them out. However I endeavour to reach to them, My continuation of them will still be all-deflected. I am a little child, Unequal to the many difficulties of the state. Having taken his place, (I will look for him) to go up and come down in the court, To ascend and descend in the house. Admirable art thou, O great Father, (Condescend) to preserve and enlighten me.
敬之敬之，天维显思。 命不易哉！无曰高高在上。 陟降厥士，日监在兹。 维予小子，不聦敬止？ 日就月将，学有缉熙于光明。 佛时仔肩，示我显德行。
Let me be reverent! Let me be reverent! (The way of) Heaven is evident, And its appointment is not easily preserved. Let me not say that it is high aloft above me. It ascends and descends about our doings; It daily inspects us wherever we are. I am a little child, Without intelligence to be reverently (attentive to my duties); But by daily progress and monthly advance, I will learn to hold fast the gleams (of knowledge), till I arrive at bright intelligence. Assist me to bear the burden (of my position), And show me how to display a virtuous conduct.
载芟载柞，其耕泽泽。千耦其耘，徂隰徂畛。 侯主侯伯，侯亚侯旅，侯彊侯以。 有嗿其馌，思媚其妇，有依其士。 有略其耜，俶载南亩，播厥百谷，实函斯活。 驿驿其达，有厌其杰。厌厌其苗，緜緜其麃。 载获济济，有实其积，万亿及秭。 为酒为醴，烝畀祖妣，以洽百礼，有𫗣其香，邦家之光。 有椒其馨，胡考之宁。匪且有且，匪今斯今，振古如兹。
They clear away the grass and the bushes; And the ground is laid open by their ploughs. In thousands of pairs they remove the roots, Some in the low wet land, some along the dykes. There are the master and his eldest son; His younger sons, and all their children; Their strong helpers, and their hired servants. How the noise of their eating the viands brought to them resounds! (The husbands) think lovingly of their wives; (The wives) keep close to their husbands. (Then) with their sharp ploughshares They set to work on the south-lying acres. They sow their various kinds of grain, Each seed containing in it a germ of life. In unbroken lines rises the blade, And, well nourished, the stalks grow long. Luxuriant looks the young grain, And the weeders go among it in multitudes. Then come the reapers in crowds, And the grain is piled up in the fields, Myriads, and hundreds of thousands, and millions (of stacks); For spirits and for sweet spirits, To offer to our ancestors, male and female, And to provide for all ceremonies. Fragrant is their aroma, Enhancing the glory of the state. Like pepper is their smell, To give comfort to the aged. It is not here only that there is this (abundance); It is not now only that there is such a time:— From of old it has been thus.
畟畟良耜，俶载南亩，播厥百谷，实函斯活。 或来瞻女，载筐及筥。其𫗵伊黍，其笠伊纠。 其镈斯赵，以薅荼蓼，荼蓼朽止，黍稷茂止。 获之挃挃，积之栗栗，其崇如墉，其比如栉，以开百室。 百室盈止，妇子宁止。杀时犉牡，有捄其角。 以似以续，续古之人。
Very sharp are the excellent shares, With which they set to work on the south-lying acres. They sow their various kinds of grain, Each seed containing in it a germ of life. There are those who come to see them, With their baskets round and square, Containing the provisions of millet. With their light splint hats on their heads, They ply their hoes on the ground, Clearing away the smartweed on the dry land and wet. The weeds being decayed, The millets grow luxuriantly. They fall rustling before the reapers. The gathered crop is piled up solidly, High as a wall, United together like the teeth of a comb; And the hundred houses are opened (to receive the grain). Those hundred houses being full, The wives and children have a feeling of repose. (Now) we kill this black-muzzled tawny bull, with his crooked horns, To imitate and hand down, To hand down (the observances of) our ancestors.
于铄王师，遵养时晦。时纯熙矣，是用大介。 我龙受之，𫏋𫏋王之造。载用有嗣，实维尔公。 允师。
Oh! powerful was the king's army, But he nursed it, in obedience to circumstances, while the time was yet dark. When the time was clearly bright, He thereupon donned his grand armour. We have been favoured to receive What the martial king accomplished. To deal aright with what we have inherited, We have to be sincere imitators of thy course, (O king).
绥万邦，娄丰年，天命匪解。 桓桓武王，保有厥士，于以四方。克定厥家。 于昭于天，皇以间之。
There is peace throughout our myriad regions. There has been a succession of plentiful years:— Heaven does not weary in its favour. The martial king Wû Maintained (the confidence of) his officers, And employed them all over the kingdom, So securing the establishment of his family. Oh! glorious was he in the sight of Heaven, Which kinged him in the room (of Shang).