Prædikeren 3
1 Alt har sin stund og hver en Ting under Himmelen sin Tid:
Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here:
2 Tid til at fødes og Tid til at dø, Tid til at plante og Tid til at rydde,
A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest.
3 Tid til at dræbe og Tid til at læge, Tid til at nedrive og Tid til at opbygge,
A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building up.
4 Tid til at græde og Tid til at le, Tid til at sørge og Tid til at danse,
A time of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing.
5 Tid til at kaste Sten, og Tid til at sanke Sten, Tid til at favne og Tid til ikke at favne,
A time of throwing away stones, and a time of gathering up stones. A time of embracing, and a time of avoiding embracing.
6 Tid til at søge og Tid til at miste, Tid til at gemme og Tid til at bortkaste,
A time of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away.
7 Tid til at flænge og Tid til at sy, Tid til at tie og Tid til at tale,
A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up.
8 Tid til at elske og Tid til at hade, Tid til Krig og Tid til Fred.
A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace.
9 Hvad Løn for sin Flid har da den, der arbejder?
So what do you get for all your hard work?
10 Jeg så det Slid, som Gud har givet Menneskens Børn at slide med.
I have examined what God gives us to do.
11 Alt har han skabt smukt til rette Tid; også Evigheden har han lagt i deres Hjerte, dog således at Menneskene hverken fatter det første eller det sidste af, hvad Gud har virket.
Everything God does is beautifully timed, and even though he has also placed the idea of eternity in our minds, we can't fully understand what God does from beginning to end.
12 Jeg skønnede, at der ikke gives noget andet Gode for dem end at glæde sig og have det godt, sålænge de lever.
I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in life.
13 Dog også det at spise og drikke og nyde det gode under al sin Flid er for hvert Menneske en Guds Gave.
In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us.
14 Jeg skønnede, at alt, hvad Gud virker, bliver evindelig, uden at noget kan føjes til eller tages fra; og således har Gud gjort det, for at man skal frygte for hans Åsyn.
I also concluded that everything God does lasts forever: nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts in this way so that people may stand in awe of him.
15 Hvad der sker, var allerede, og hvad der skal ske, har allerede været; Gud leder det svundne op.
Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.
16 Fremdeles så jeg under Solen, at Gudløshed var på Rettens Sted og Gudløshed på Retfærds Sted.
I also observed that here on earth there was evil even in the place where there was supposed to be justice; even where things were meant to be right, there was evil.
17 Jeg sagde ved mig selv: "Den retfærdige og den gudløse dømmer Gud; thi for hver en Ting og hver en Idræt har han fastsat en Tid.
But then I thought to myself, “Ultimately God will judge both those who do right and those who do wrong, and every deed and action, at the appointed time.”
18 Jeg sagde ved mig selv: "Det er for Menneskenes Skyld, for at Gud kan prøve dem, og for at de selv kan se, at de er Dyr:"
I also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than animals.”
19 Thi Menneskers og Dyrs Skæbne er ens; som den ene dør, dør den anden, og en og samme Ånd har de alle; Mennesket har intet forud for Dyrene, thi alt er Tomhed.
For what happens to human beings is the same as what happens to animals—in the same way one dies, the other dies too. They all have the breath of life—so regarding any advantage human beings have over animals, there is none. Definitely this is very hard to understand!
20 Alle går sammesteds hen, alle blev til af Muld, og alle vender tilbage til Mulden.
They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.
21 Hvo ved, om Menneskenes Ånd stiger opad, og om Dyrenes Ånd farer nedad til Jorden?
Who really knows whether the breath of life of human beings goes up above, and the breath of life of animals goes down below to the earth?
22 Således indså jeg, at intet er bedre for Mennesket end at glæde sig ved sin Gerning, thi det er hans Del; thi hvo kan bringe ham så vidt, at han kan se, hvad der kommer efter hans Død?
So I concluded that there's nothing better than for people to enjoy their work. This is what we are meant to do. For who can bring anyone back from the dead to show them what will happen after they die?
