Prædikeren 3
1 Alting har sin Stund; og enhver Idræt under Himmelen har sin Tid.
There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
2 Der er en Tid til at føde og en Tid til at dø; en Tid til at plante og en Tid til at oprykke det plantede;
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 en Tid til at ihjelslaa og en Tid til at læge; en Tid til at nedrive og en Tid til at opbygge;
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 en Tid til at græde og en Tid til at le; en Tid til at sørge og en Tid til at springe af Glæde;
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 en Tid til at bortkaste Stene og en Tid til at samle Stene; en Tid til at tage i Favn og en Tid til at holde sig fra Favntag;
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 en Tid til at søge og en Tid til at tabe; en Tid til at forvare og en Tid til at bortkaste;
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 en Tid til at sønderrive og en Tid til at sy sammen; en Tid til at tie og en Tid til at tale;
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 en Tid til at elske og en Tid til at hade; en Tid til Krig og en Tid til Fred.
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 Hvad Fordel har den, som udfører noget af det, han arbejder paa?
(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 Jeg har set den Plage, som Gud har givet Menneskens Børn at plage sig med.
I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
11 Han har gjort alting smukt i sin Tid, ogsaa Evigheden har han lagt i deres Hjerte; kun at Mennesket ikke kan udfinde den Gerning, som Gud har gjort, fra Begyndelsen indtil Enden.
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 Jeg fornam, at det gode ikke staar til dem selv, men at man skal være glad og gøre godt i sit Liv;
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 og tillige, at det, at ethvert Menneske æder og drikker og ser det gode i alt sit Arbejde, er en Guds Gave.
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 Jeg fornam, at alt det, som Gud gør, skal blive evindelig, at man intet kan lægge til, og at man intet kan tage derfra; og at Gud gør det, for at de skulle frygte for hans Ansigt.
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 Det, som har været, havde allerede været, og det, som skal ske, har allerede været; og Gud søger det, som er fordrevet.
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 Og jeg saa ydermere under Solen Dommens Sted, der var Ugudeligheden, og Retfærdighedens Sted, der var Ugudeligheden.
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 Jeg sagde i mit Hjerte: Gud vil dømme den retfærdige og den ugudelige; thi der er en Tid for enhver Idræt og Tid fastsat hisset over al Gerning.
[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 Jeg sagde i mit Hjerte: Dette sker for Menneskens Børns Skyld, for at Gud kan lutre dem, og at de maa se, at de i og for sig ere Dyr.
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 Thi hvad, som hændes Menneskens Børn, det hændes og Dyrene, og ens hændes dem begge; som disse dø, saa dø og hine, og de have alle en Aand, og Mennesket har intet Fortrin fremfor Dyret; thi alt er Forfængelighed.
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 De fare alle til et Sted; de ere alle komne af Støv, og de vende alle tilbage til Støv.
[People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
21 Hvo kender Menneskens Børns Aand, den som farer opad, og Dyrets Aand, den som farer ned ad til Jorden?
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 Og jeg saa, at intet er bedre, end at et Menneske er glad i sine Gerninger; thi det er hans Del; thi hvo vil bringe ham til at se paa det, som skal komme efter ham?
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.
