Prædikeren 8
1 Hvo er som den vise? og hvo forstaar Sagens Udtydning? Menneskens Visdom opklarer hans Ansigt, og hans Ansigts Haardhed forandres.
Who [is] as the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? The wisdom of man causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 Jeg siger: Agt paa Kongens Mund, og det formedelst Eden til Gud.
I [counsel]: keep the command of a king, even for the sake of an oath [to] God.
3 Vær ikke hastig til at gaa bort fra hans Ansigt, bliv ikke staaende ved en slet Sag; thi han kan gøre alt, hvad han har Lyst til,
Do not be troubled at his presence, you may go, do not stand in an evil thing, for all that he pleases he does.
4 efterdi Kongens Ord er et Magtsprog; og hvo tør sige til ham: Hvad gør du?
Where the word of a king [is] power [is], and who says to him, “What do you do?”
5 Hvo som holder Budet, skal intet ondt forfare, og den vises Hjerte kender Tid og Ret.
Whoever is keeping a command knows no evil thing, and time and judgment the heart of the wise knows.
6 Thi for enhver Idræt er der Tid og Ret; thi Menneskets Ulykke hviler svar over ham.
For to every delight there is a time and a judgment, for the misfortune of man is great on him.
7 Thi han ved ikke, hvad der skal ske: Thi hvo kan tilkendegive ham, hvorledes det skal vorde?
For he does not know that which will be, for when it will be who declares to him?
8 Mennesket har ikke Magt over Aanden til at holde Aanden tilbage og ingen Magt over Dødens Dag og kan i Striden ikke undslippe, og Ugudelighed kan ikke redde sin Ejermand.
There is no man ruling over the spirit to restrain the spirit, and there is no authority over the day of death, and there is no discharge in battle, and wickedness does not deliver its possessors.
9 Alt dette har jeg set, og jeg har lagt Mærke til al den Gerning, som gøres under Solen; der er en Tid, da Mennesket hersker over et Menneske til dettes Ulykke.
All this I have seen so as to give my heart to every work that has been done under the sun; a time that man has ruled over man to his own evil.
10 Og da saa jeg de ugudelige at begraves og komme hjem og at gaa bort fra den Helliges Sted og at glemmes i Staden efter at have gjort saaledes; ogsaa dette er Forfængelighed.
And so I have seen the wicked buried, and they went in, even from the Holy Place they go, and they are forgotten in the city whether they had so done. This [is] also vanity.
11 Efterdi der ikke fældes en Dom, haster Ondskabens Gerning; derfor er Menneskenes Børns Hjerte inden i dem fuldt af at gøre ondt.
Because sentence has not been done [on] an evil work speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of man is full within them to do evil.
12 Lad endog en Synder gøre hundrede Gange ondt og leve længe! thi jeg ved dog, at det skal gaa dem vel, som frygte Gud, og som frygte for hans Ansigt.
Though a sinner is doing evil one hundred [times], and prolonging [himself] for it, surely also I know that there is good to those fearing God, who fear before Him.
13 Men det skal ikke gaa den ugudelige vel, og han skal ikke leve længe, han skal gaa bort ligesom en Skygge, fordi han ikke frygter for Guds Ansigt.
And good is not to the wicked, and he does not prolong days as a shadow, because he is not fearing before God.
14 Der er en Forfængelighed, som sker paa Jorden: At der er retfærdige, hvem det rammer efter de ugudeliges Gerning, og at der er ugudelige, hvem det rammer efter de retfærdiges Gerning; jeg sagde, at ogsaa dette er Forfængelighed.
There is a vanity that has been done on the earth, that there are righteous ones to whom it is coming according to the work of the wicked, and there are wicked ones to whom it is coming according to the work of the righteous. I have said that this [is] also vanity.
15 Og jeg prisede Glæden, efterdi et Menneske intet bedre har under Solen end at æde og at drikke og at være glad; og saadant følger ham for hans Arbejde i hans Livsdage, som Gud har givet ham under Solen.
And I have praised mirth because there is no good to man under the sun except to eat and to drink, and to rejoice, and it remains with him of his labor the days of his life that God has given to him under the sun.
16 Eftersom jeg gav mit Hjerte hen til at forstaa Visdom og til at se den Møje, som man gør sig paa Jorden, at der er den, som hverken Dag eller Nat ser Søvn i sine Øjne:
When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that has been done on the earth (for there is also a spectator in whose eyes sleep is not by day and by night),
17 Da saa jeg al Guds Gerning, at et Menneske ikke kan udfinde den Gerning, som sker under Solen, idet Mennesket arbejder paa at udgranske den uden at kunne finde den; og selv om den vise vilde sige sig at forstaa den, kan han dog ikke finde den.
then I considered all the work of God, that man is not able to find out the work that has been done under the sun, because though man labor to seek, yet he does not find; and even though the wise man speak of knowing he is not able to find.
