Thuituen 3
1 A cungkuem dongah a tuetang om tih vaan hmuikah kongaih boeih dongah khaw a tue om.
There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
2 Cun ham tue neh duek ham tue khaw om. Aka phung hamla phung ham tue neh haih ham tue om.
There is a time to be born, and there is a time to die. There is a time to plant [seeds], and there is a time to harvest crops.
3 Ngawn ham tue neh hoeih sak ham tue khaw om. Phae ham tue neh sak ham tue khaw om.
There is a time to kill [people], and there is a time to heal [people]. There is a time to tear things down, and there is a time to build things.
4 Rhah tue neh luem tue khaw om. Rhaengsae tue neh soipet tue khaw om.
There is a time to cry, and there is a time to laugh. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to dance [joyfully].
5 Lungto voeih tue neh lungto calui tue khaw om. Kop tue neh a kop lamloh lakhla tue khaw om.
There is a time to throw away stones [from a field], and there is a time to gather stones [to build walls/houses]. There is a time to embrace [people], and there is a time to not embrace [people].
6 Tlap tue neh paltham tue khaw om. Ngaithuen tue neh voeih tue khaw om.
There is a time to search for things, and there is a time to stop searching for things. There is a time to keep/save things, and there is a time to throw things away.
7 Phen tue neh bo tue khaw om. Duem om ham tue neh thui tue khaw om.
There is a time to tear [our old clothes], and there is a time to mend [clothes]. There is a time to say nothing, and there is a time when we should speak.
8 Lungnah tue neh thiinah tue om. Caemtloek tue neh rhoepnah tue om.
There is a time when we should love [things that people do], and there is a time when we should hate [things that people do]. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.
9 Anih thakthaekung lamloh mebang rhoeikhangnah lae a saii?
(What do people gain from all the work that they do?/It seems that people gain very little from all the work that they do [RHQ]).
10 Anih te phaep hamla Pathen loh hlang ca rhoek soah a paek te khaw bibi la ka hmuh.
I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
11 A cungkuem he amah tue neh sakthen la a saii tih kumhal kah te khaw amih lungbuei ah a khueh pah. Te pawt cakhaw, a tong lamloh a bawt hil Pathen loh a saii bibi te hlang loh a hmuh moenih.
God has appointed a time that is right/correct for everything to happen. He has [also] caused people to realize that there are things that will endure forever. But in spite of that, no one can completely understand everything that God has done, from the time that he starts doing things until he finishes them.
12 Amah hingnah dongah kohoe ham neh a then saii ham lakah amih ham a then a om moenih.
I know that the best [LIT] thing for us people to do is to rejoice and to do good things [all] during the time that we are alive.
13 Hlang boeih he khaw ca mai saeh lamtah o mai saeh, hnothen khaw hmu mai saeh. Te te amah kah thakthaenah cungkuem khuiah Pathen kah kutdoe ni.
And I also know that everyone should eat and drink, and enjoy the work that they do. Those are things that God gives to us.
14 Pathen loh a cungkuem a saii tila ka ming. Amah tah kumhal duela om. Amah soah thap ham om pawt tih anih lamkah te yueh ham khaw a om bal moenih. Te dongah a mikhmuh ah a rhih uh ham ni Pathen loh a saii.
I [also] know that what God does endures forever. No one can add to what God does, and no one can take away from the things that God does. God does those things in order that people would revere him.
15 Aka om oepsoeh te khaw, aka om ham te khaw om oepsoeh coeng. Te dongah a hloem tangtae te Pathen loh a toem.
Things that exist now have already existed previously, and things that will happen in the future have already happened previously; God causes the same things to happen many times.
16 Laitloeknah hmuen ah halangnah hnap om tih, duengnah hmuen ah halangnah hnap a om te khomik hmuiah koep ka hmuh.
Furthermore, I saw that on this earth [MTY], even in the courts where we expect judges to make right decisions about what people had done, they did many wicked [DOU] things.
17 Ka lungbuei ah tah, “A kongaih boeih ham neh a bibi boeih ham khaw a tue a om coeng dongah, aka dueng neh halang khaw Pathen loh lai a tloek ni,” ka ti.
[So] I said to myself [SYN], “God will judge [both] righteous [people] and wicked [people]; there is a time [for him to do that], because there is a time for him to do everything.”
18 Hlang ca rhoek kah dumlai dongah khaw ka lungbuei ah, “Amih te Pathen loh coelh saeh lamtah, amih bang he rhamsa ni amamih loh hmu saeh,” ka ti mai.
And regarding humans, I [also] said to myself, “God is testing us, to show us that [in one way] people are no different than animals,
19 Hlang ca rhoek kah a hmatoeng neh rhamsa kah hmatoeng khaw hmatoeng pakhat ni. Amih ham he kah dueknah bangla ke dueknah khaw om tih a cungkuem ham hil pakhat la om. Te dongah rhamsa lakah hlang kah kumkonah a om moenih. A cungkuem he a honghi ni.
because what happens to people happens to animals. Animals die, and people die. We all must breathe [to remain alive]. [With regard to that], people have no advantage over animals, so I have a difficult time understanding that.
20 A cungkuem he hmuen pakhat la cet. A cungkuem he laipi lamloh ha thoeng. A cungkuem he laipi la mael.
[People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
21 Hlang ca rhoek kah mueihla tah a so la cet tih rhamsa mueihla tah diklai khuila a suntlak thuk khaw ulong a ming?
No one knows [RHQ] for sure that when we die, our souls/spirits go up to heaven and the souls/spirits of animals go down to the place where the dead are.”
22 Te dongah a hamsum bangla a bibi dongah hlang a kohoe lakah ah a then om pawh tila ka hmuh. A hnukah aka thoeng ham te hmuh sak hamla ulong anih a khuen thai?
So I concluded that the best thing for [us] people to do is to be happy about the work that we do, because that is what God has given to us. I say that because no one of us [RHQ] knows what happens to us after we die.
