< Prædikeren 7 >
1 Godt Navn er bedre end ypperlig Salve, Dødsdag bedre end Fødselsdag;
[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 bedre at gaa til et Sørgehus end at gaa til et Gildehus; thi hist er alle Menneskers Ende, og de levende bør tage det til Hjerte.
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 Bedre Græmmelse end Latter, thi er Minerne mørke, har Hjertet det godt.
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 De vises Hjerte er i Sørgehuset. Taabernes Hjerte i Glædeshuset.
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 Bedre at høre paa Vismands Skænd end at høre paa Taabers Sang.
It is better to pay attention to [someone who is wise] you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.
6 Som Tjørnekvistes Knitren under Gryden er Taabers Latter; ogsaa det er Tomhed.
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 Thi uredelig Vinding gør Vismand til Daare, og Stikpenge ødelægger Hjertet.
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 En Sags Udgang er bedre end dens Indgang, Taalmod er bedre end Hovmod.
Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
9 Vær ikke hastig i dit Sind til at græmmes, thi Græmmelse bor i Taabers Bryst.
Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
10 Spørg ikke: »Hvoraf kommer det, at de gamle Dage var bedre end vore?« Thi saaledes spørger du ikke med Visdom.
Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
11 Bedre er Visdom end Arv, en Fordel for dem, som skuer Solen;
Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].
12 thi Visdom skygger, som Penge skygger, men Kundskabs Fortrin er dette, at Visdom holder sin Mand i Live.
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 Se paa Guds Værk! Hvo kan rette, hvad han har gjort kroget?
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 Vær ved godt Mod paa den gode Dag og indse paa den onde Dag, at Gud skabte denne saavel som hin, for at Mennesket ikke skal finde noget efter sig.
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 Begge Dele saa jeg i mine tomme Dage: Der er retfærdige, som omkommer i deres Retfærdighed, og der er gudløse, som lever længe i deres Ondskab.
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 Vær ikke alt for retfærdig og te dig ikke overvættes viis; hvorfor vil du ødelægge dig selv?
[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 Vær ikke alt for gudløs og vær ingen Daare; hvorfor vil du dø i Utide?
If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
18 Det bedste er, at du fastholder det ene og ikke slipper det andet; thi den, der frygter Gud, vil undgaa begge Farer.
Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.
19 Visdom gør Vismand stærkere end ti Magthavere i Byen.
If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
20 Thi intet Menneske er saa retfærdigt paa Jorden, at han kun gør gode Gerninger og aldrig synder.
There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
21 Giv ikke Agt paa alle de Ord, Folk siger, at du ikke skal høre din Træl forbande dig;
Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.
22 thi du ved med dig selv, at ogsaa du mange Gange har forbandet andre.
You know that you have also cursed other people.
23 Alt dette ransagede jeg med Visdom; jeg tænkte: »Jeg vil vorde viis.« Men Visdom holdt sig langt fra mig;
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 Tingenes Grund er langt borte, saa dyb, saa dyb; hvem kan finde den?
Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
25 Jeg tog mig for at vende min Hu til Kundskab og Granskning og til at søge efter Visdom og sikker Viden og til at kende, at Gudløshed er Taabelighed, Daarskab Vanvid.
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 Og beskere end Døden fandt jeg Kvinden, thi hun er et Fangegarn; hendes Hjerte er et Net og hendes Arme Lænker. Den, som er Gud kær, undslipper hende, men Synderen bliver hendes Fange.
[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 Se, det fandt jeg ud, sagde Prædikeren, ved at lægge det ene til det andet for at drage min Slutning.
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 Hvad min Sjæl stadig søgte, men ikke fandt, er dette: Een Mand fandt jeg blandt tusind, men en Kvinde fandt jeg ikke i hele Flokken.
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 Dog se, det fandt jeg, at Gud har skabt Menneskene, som de bør være; men de har saa mange sære Ting for.
[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.