Propovjednik 8
1 Tko je kao mudrac? Tko još umije tumačiti stvari? Mudrost čovjeku razvedruje lice i mijenja njegov namršteni lik.
Who is as the wise? and who knoweth the explanation of things? A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face is changed.
2 Zato velim: slušaj kraljevu zapovijed zbog Božje zakletve.
I [say], Keep the king's commandment, and [that] on account of the oath of God.
3 Ne nagli da je prekršiš: ne budi tvrdoglav kad razlog nije dobar, jer on čini kako mu odgovara.
Be not hasty to go out of his sight; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatever pleaseth him,
4 Jer kraljeva je riječ najjača, i tko ga smije pitati: “Što činiš?”
because the word of a king is power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
5 Tko se drži zapovijedi, ne poznaje nevolju, i mudrac zna za vrijeme i sud.
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man's heart knoweth time and manner.
6 Jer postoji vrijeme i sud za sve, i čovjeka veoma tereti nedjelo njegovo
For to every purpose there is time and manner. For the misery of man is great upon him;
7 jer on ne zna što će biti; a tko mu može kazati kad će što biti?
for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?
8 Vjetar nitko ne može svladati, niti gospodariti nad danom smrtnim, niti ima odgode u ratu; niti opačina izbavlja onoga koji je čini.
There is no man who hath control over the spirit to retain the spirit; and no one hath control over the day of death; and there is no discharge in that war, neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
9 Sve ovo vidjeh pazeći na sve što se čini pod suncem, kad čovjek vlada nad čovjekom na njegovu nesreću.
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time when man ruleth man to his hurt.
10 Dalje vidjeh kako opake nose na groblje, i ljudi iz svetog mjesta izlaze da ih slave zbog toga što su tako činili. I to je ispraznost.
And I have also seen the wicked buried and going away; and such as had acted rightly went from [the] holy place, and were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity.
11 Kad nema brze osude za zlo djelo, ljudsko je srce sklono činiti zlo.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 I grešnik koji čini zlo i sto puta, dugo živi. Ja ipak znam da će biti sretni oni koji se boje Boga jer ga se boje.
Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his [days], yet I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, because they fear before him;
13 Ali opak čovjek neće biti sretan i neće produljivati svoje dane ni kao sjena jer se ne boji Boga.
but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong [his] days as a shadow, because he feareth not before God.
14 Ali je na zemlji ispraznost te pravednike stiže sudbina opakih, a opake sudbina pravednika. Velim: i to je ispraznost.
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are righteous [men] unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; and there are wicked [men] to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
15 Zato slavim veselje, jer nema čovjeku sreće pod suncem nego u jelu, pilu i nasladi. I to neka ga prati u njegovoj muci za života koji mu Bog dade pod suncem.
And I commended mirth, because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry; for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God hath given him under the sun.
16 Poslije svih napora da dokučim mudrost, pokušah spoznati što se radi na zemlji. Uistinu, čovjek ne nalazi spokojstva ni danju ni noću.
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes),
17 Promatram cjelokupno djelo Božje: i odista - nitko ne može dokučiti ono što se zbiva pod suncem. Jer ma koliko se čovjek trudio da otkrije, nikad ne može otkriti. Pa ni mudrac to ne može otkriti, iako misli da zna.
then I saw that all [is] the work of God, [and] that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however man may labour to seek [it] out, yet doth he not find [it]; and even, if a wise [man] think to know [it], he shall not be able to find [it] out.
