Propovjednik 7
1 Bolji je dobar glas nego skupocjeno ulje, i smrtni dan nego dan rođenja.
[Having] a good reputation [MTY] is better than fine perfume, and the day that we die is better than the day that we are born.
2 Bolje je ići u kuću gdje je žalost nego u kuću gdje je gozba, jer ondje je kraj svakoga čovjeka, i tko je živ, nek' primi k srcu!
It is better to go to a house where people are mourning [about someone who has died] than to go to a house where people are feasting, because everyone will die some day, and people who are alive should think seriously [IDM] about that.
3 Bolji je jad nego smijeh, jer pod žalosnim licem srce je radosno.
It is better to be sad than to be [always] laughing, because being sad can cause us to think more about how we should conduct our lives [IDM].
4 Srce je mudrih ljudi u kući žalosti, a srce bezumnih u kući veselja.
Wise [people] who go to where others are mourning think about [the fact that some day they also will] die, but foolish people [PRS] [do not think about that]; they are always [MTY] laughing.
5 Bolje je poslušati ukor mudra čovjeka negoli slušati hvalospjev luđaka.
It is better to pay attention to [someone who is wise] you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.
6 Jer kao prasak trnja ispod kotla, takav je smijeh luđaka, i to je ispraznost.
By [listening to] foolish people laughing we will not [learn any more than by listening to] the crackling of thorns [being burned] under a pot. Listening to fools is senseless.
7 Jer smijeh od mudraca čini luđaka i veselje kvari srce.
When wise people say to others, “You must pay me a lot of money for me to protect you,” that causes those wise people to become foolish, and [accepting] bribes causes people to become unable to do what is fair/just.
8 Bolji je svršetak stvari nego njezin početak i bolja je strpljivost od oholosti.
Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
9 Ne nagli u srdžbu, jer srdžba počiva u srcu luđaka.
Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
10 Ne pitaj zašto su negdašnja vremena bila bolja od ovih, jer to nije mudro pitanje.
Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
11 Mudrost je dragocjena baština i probitak onima na koje sunce sja.
Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].
12 Jer kao što je novac zaštita, tako je i mudrost; a prednost je mudrosti u tome što izbavlja onoga tko je ima.
We are [sometimes] protected by being wise like we are [sometimes] protected by having a lot of money, but being wise is better [than having a lot of money], [because] being wise prevents us from [doing foolish things that would] cause us to die.
13 Pogledaj djela Božja; tko može ispraviti što je on iskrivio?
Think [carefully about] what God has done. Certainly no one can [RHQ] cause to become straight the things that God has caused to be crooked.
14 U sretan dan uživaj sreću, a u zao dan razmišljaj: Bog je stvorio jedno kao i drugo - da čovjek ne otkrije ništa od svoje budućnosti.
When things are going well for you, be happy, and when things are not going well for you, remember that God is the one who causes good things to happen and who also causes disasters.
15 Svašta vidjeh u svojemu ništavnom životu: pravednik propada unatoč svojoj pravednosti, a bezbožnik i dalje živi unatoč svojoj bezbožnosti.
During all the time that I have been alive I have seen a lot of [HYP] things that seem senseless. I have seen righteous people die [while they are still young], and I have seen wicked people remain alive for a very long time in [spite of] their continuing to be wicked.
16 Ne budi prepravedan i ne budi premudar; zašto da se uništavaš?
[So] do not think that you are very righteous and do not think that you are very wise, [because if you think those things], you will destroy yourself.
17 Ne budi preopak i ne budi lud; zašto bi umro prije vremena?
If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
18 Dobro je da držiš jedno, ali ni drugo ne puštaj iz ruke, jer tko se boji Boga, izbavlja se od svega.
Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.
19 Mudrost mudraca veću moć daje gradu nego deset mogućnika.
If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
20 Na zemlji nema pravednika koji, čineći dobro, ne bi nikad sagriješio.
There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
21 I još jedno: nemoj se obazirati na govorkanje; čut ćeš možda da te sluga tvoj proklinjao;
Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.
22 a zna tvoje srce kako si i ti često druge proklinjao.
You know that you have also cursed other people.
23 Sve sam to mudrošću iskušao. Mislio sam da sam mudar, ali mi je mudrost bila nedokučiva.
I said [to myself] that I would use my wisdom to study all the things [that I have written about], but I was not able to do it successfully.
24 Ono što jest, daleko je i duboko, tako duboko - tko da i pronađe?
Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
25 I još jednom pokušah istražiti i shvatiti mudrost i smisao, da spoznam opačinu kao ludost, a ludost kao bezumlje.
But I decided to investigate things and by my wisdom try to understand the reason for everything. I also wanted to understand why people act wickedly and why they act very foolishly.
26 Otkrih da ima nešto gorče od smrti - žena, ona je zamka, srce joj je mreža, a ruke okovi; tko je Bogu drag, izmiče joj, a grešnik je njezin sužanj.
[One thing I learned was that] (allowing a woman to seduce you/having sex with a woman to whom you are not married) is worse than dying. A woman who tries to seduce men is [as dangerous as] a trap [MET]. [If you allow her to put] her arms [around you, it will be as though she will be fastening you with] chains. Women like that will capture sinful men, but men who please God will escape from such women.
27 Eto, to sam sve u svemu otkrio, veli Propovjednik.
This is what I have learned: I tried to learn more and more about things to try to find out the reason for everything,
28 I još sam tražio, ali bez uspjeha. Nađoh čovjeka - jednog od tisuću, a žene ne nađoh među svima nijedne.
and I continued to try to learn more, but I could not find [all that I was searching for]. [But] one thing that I found out was that among 1,000 [people] I found one righteous man, but I did not find even one righteous woman.
29 Otkrih ovo: Bog stvori čovjeka jednostavnim, a on snuje nebrojene spletke.
[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.
