Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.
En ngʼa machalo gi ngʼama nigi rieko matut? En ngʼa mongʼeyo wacho tiend gik moko? Rieko miyo ngʼato bedo mamor kendo otieko ich wangʼ ma en-go.
2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
Luor chik ruoth, awacho kamano, nikech ni kwongʼori e nyim Jehova Nyasaye.
3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
Kik irikni ka ia e nyim ruoth. Kik ichwak ngʼama timo richo, nimar obiro timo gimora amora mohero.
4 For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Nimar wach ruoth nigi teko, en ngʼa manyalo wachone niya, “Angʼo ma itimo?”
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
Ngʼato angʼata moluoro chikne ok noyud hinyruok moro amora, to chuny man-gi rieko biro ngʼeyo sa mowinjore mar timo gimoro kod chenro miluwo.
6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
Nimar nitiere sa mowinjore kod chenro miluwo e gimoro amora, kata kamano dhier mar dhano pek moloye.
7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
Nimar dhano ok ongʼeyo gima biro, en ngʼa manyalo nyise gima biro?
8 As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
Onge ngʼama nigi teko ewi yamo mondo ochike, omiyo onge ngʼama nigi teko e odiechieng thone. Mana kaka jalweny ok mi thuolo mar yweyo e kinde mag kedo, e kaka joricho bende ok yud thuolo kuom timbegigo.
9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
Magi duto ne aneno, kane aketo pacha e gik moko duto mitimo e piny. Nitie kinde moro ma ngʼato sandoe jowetegi to en owuon ema ohinyore.
10 Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.
Aseneno joma timbegi richo ka iyiko, jogo mane osiko kadonjo kendo wuok e kama ler kendo ne yudo pak e dala maduongʼ kuom gik ma ok mi Nyasaye duongʼ. Ma bende en tim manono.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Ka ngʼado bura ne janjore ok otim, to chuny ji pongʼ gi chenro mar timo marach.
12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
Kata obedo ni joma timbegi richo nyalo timo richo mathoth, to pod ginyalo dak kuom kinde mangʼeny, to gima angʼeyo en ni joma oluoro Nyasaye to biro dhi maber e nyim Nyasaye.
13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
Nikech joma timbegi mono ok oluoro Nyasaye, ok ginine maber kendo ngimagi nolal mana ka tipo.
14 There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.
Nitiere gimoro machielo maonge tiende matimore e piny: joma kare mayudo gigo ma joma mono ema onego yudi, kod joma timbegi mono mayudo gigo monego joma kare ema yudi. Ma bende, awacho, ni onge tiende.
15 So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
Omiyo ayie ni mondo ji owinj maber e ngima margi, nikech onge gima ber ne dhano e piny moloyo chiemo, metho kod bedo gimor. Bangʼe obiro bedo mamor kuom tije matek motiyo e kinde mar ngimane ma Nyasaye omiye ngima e piny ka.
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—
Kane aketo pacha mondo angʼe rieko kendo mondo anon tich matek mar dhano e piny-ka ka nindo ok tere odiechiengʼ gotieno,
17 I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.
to ne afwenyo ni gigo duto Nyasaye ema timo. Omiyo onge ngʼama ongʼeyo gigo matimore e piny. Kata dabed ni oketo chunye manade mar ngʼeyo tiendgi, to ok onyal ngʼeyo tiendgi. Bende kata ngʼama riek par ni ongʼeyo, to ok onyal winjo tiendgi maber.
