Propovjednik 7
1 Bolji je dobar glas nego skupocjeno ulje, i smrtni dan nego dan rođenja.
A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one’s birth.
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 the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart.
3 Bolji je jad nego smijeh, jer pod žalosnim licem srce je radosno.
Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good.
4 Srce je mudrih ljudi u kući žalosti, a srce bezumnih u kući veselja.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 Bolje je poslušati ukor mudra čovjeka negoli slušati hvalospjev luđaka.
It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 Jer kao prasak trnja ispod kotla, takav je smijeh luđaka, i to je ispraznost.
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
7 Jer smijeh od mudraca čini luđaka i veselje kvari srce.
Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding.
8 Bolji je svršetak stvari nego njezin početak i bolja je strpljivost od oholosti.
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 Ne nagli u srdžbu, jer srdžba počiva u srcu luđaka.
Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Ne pitaj zašto su negdašnja vremena bila bolja od ovih, jer to nije mudro pitanje.
Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not ask wisely about this.
11 Mudrost je dragocjena baština i probitak onima na koje sunce sja.
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
12 Jer kao što je novac zaštita, tako je i mudrost; a prednost je mudrosti u tome što izbavlja onoga tko je ima.
For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Pogledaj djela Božja; tko može ispraviti što je on iskrivio?
Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight which he has made 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.
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.
15 Svašta vidjeh u svojemu ništavnom životu: pravednik propada unatoč svojoj pravednosti, a bezbožnik i dalje živi unatoč svojoj bezbožnosti.
All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.
16 Ne budi prepravedan i ne budi premudar; zašto da se uništavaš?
Don’t be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Ne budi preopak i ne budi lud; zašto bi umro prije vremena?
Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time?
18 Dobro je da držiš jedno, ali ni drugo ne puštaj iz ruke, jer tko se boji Boga, izbavlja se od svega.
It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also don’t withdraw your hand from that; for he who fears God will come out of them all.
19 Mudrost mudraca veću moć daje gradu nego deset mogućnika.
Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
20 Na zemlji nema pravednika koji, čineći dobro, ne bi nikad sagriješio.
Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn’t sin.
21 I još jedno: nemoj se obazirati na govorkanje; čut ćeš možda da te sluga tvoj proklinjao;
Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you;
22 a zna tvoje srce kako si i ti često druge proklinjao.
for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others.
23 Sve sam to mudrošću iskušao. Mislio sam da sam mudar, ali mi je mudrost bila nedokučiva.
All this I have proved in wisdom. I said, “I will be wise;” but it was far from me.
24 Ono što jest, daleko je i duboko, tako duboko - tko da i pronađe?
That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?
25 I još jednom pokušah istražiti i shvatiti mudrost i smisao, da spoznam opačinu kao ludost, a ludost kao bezumlje.
I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.
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.
I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.
27 Eto, to sam sve u svemu otkrio, veli Propovjednik.
“Behold, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “to one another, to find an explanation
28 I još sam tražio, ali bez uspjeha. Nađoh čovjeka - jednog od tisuću, a žene ne nađoh među svima nijedne.
which my soul still seeks, but I have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all those.
29 Otkrih ovo: Bog stvori čovjeka jednostavnim, a on snuje nebrojene spletke.
Behold, I have only found this: that God made mankind upright; but they search for many inventions.”
