Prædikeren 3
1 Alt har sin stund og hver en Ting under Himmelen sin Tid:
There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
2 Tid til at fødes og Tid til at dø, Tid til at plante og Tid til at rydde,
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 Tid til at dræbe og Tid til at læge, Tid til at nedrive og 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 Tid til at græde og Tid til at le, Tid til at sørge og Tid til at danse,
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 Tid til at kaste Sten, og Tid til at sanke Sten, Tid til at favne og Tid til ikke at favne,
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 Tid til at søge og Tid til at miste, Tid til at gemme og 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 Tid til at flænge og Tid til at sy, Tid til at tie og 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 Tid til at elske og Tid til at hade, Tid til Krig og 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 Løn for sin Flid har da den, der arbejder?
(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 så det Slid, som Gud har givet Menneskens Børn at slide med.
I have seen the work that God has given people 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.
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 skønnede, at der ikke gives noget andet Gode for dem end at glæde sig og have det godt, sålænge de lever.
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 Dog også det at spise og drikke og nyde det gode under al sin Flid er for hvert Menneske 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 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] 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 Hvad der sker, var allerede, og hvad der skal ske, har allerede været; Gud leder det svundne op.
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 Fremdeles så jeg under Solen, at Gudløshed var på Rettens Sted og Gudløshed på Retfærds Sted.
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 ved mig selv: "Den retfærdige og den gudløse dømmer Gud; thi for hver en Ting og hver en Idræt har han fastsat en Tid.
[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 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:"
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 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.
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 Alle går sammesteds hen, alle blev til af Muld, og alle vender tilbage til Mulden.
[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 ved, om Menneskenes Ånd stiger opad, og om Dyrenes Ånd farer nedad 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 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 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.
