< 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.
Ni nani aliye kama mtu mwenye hekima? Ni nani ajuaye maelezo ya mambo? Hekima hungʼarisha uso wa mtu na kubadili ugumu wa uso wake.
2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
Nawaambia, Tii amri ya mfalme, kwa sababu uliapa mbele za Mungu.
3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
Usiharakishe kuondoka mbele ya mfalme. Usiendelee kutenda lililo baya, kwa maana mfalme atafanya lolote apendalo.
4 For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Kwa kuwa neno la mfalme ndilo lenye mamlaka ya mwisho, nani awezaye kumwambia, “Je, wewe unafanya nini?”
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
Yeyote anayetii agizo lake hatadhurika, moyo wa hekima utajua wakati muafaka na jinsi ya kutenda.
6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
Kwa maana kuna wakati muafaka na utaratibu wa kila jambo, ingawa huzuni ya mwanadamu huwa nzito juu yake.
7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
Kwa vile hakuna mtu ajuaye siku zijazo, ni nani awezaye kumwambia linalokuja?
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.
Hakuna mwanadamu awezaye kushikilia roho yake asife, wala hakuna mwenye uwezo juu ya siku ya kufa kwake. Kama vile hakuna yeyote arudishwaye nyuma wakati wa vita, kadhalika uovu hautawaweka huru wale wautendao.
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.
Yote haya niliyaona, nilipokuwa natafakari kila kitu kinachotendeka chini ya jua. Kuna wakati ambapo mtu hujifanya bwana juu ya wengine kwa madhara yake mwenyewe.
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.
Ndipo pia, nikaona waovu wakizikwa, wale ambao walizoea kuingia na kutoka mahali patakatifu na kupewa sifa katika mji ambapo walikuwa wamefanya haya. Hili nalo ni ubatili.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Wakati hukumu juu ya tendo ovu haitekelezwi upesi, mioyo ya watu hujaa mipango ya kutenda maovu.
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.
Ingawa mtu mwovu hufanya maovu mia moja na akaendelea kuishi maisha marefu, najua kwamba itakuwa bora zaidi kwa watu wanaomwogopa Mungu, wamchao Mungu.
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.
Lakini kwa sababu waovu hawamwogopi Mungu, hawatafanikiwa, maisha yao hayatarefuka kama kivuli.
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.
Kuna kitu kingine ambacho ni ubatili kinachotokea duniani: Watu waadilifu kupata yale yanayowastahili waovu, nao waovu kupata yale yanayowastahili waadilifu. Hili nalo pia, nasema ni ubatili.
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.
Kwa hiyo mimi ninasifu kufurahia maisha, kwa sababu hakuna kitu bora zaidi kwa mwanadamu chini ya jua kuliko kula, kunywa na kufurahi. Kisha furaha itafuatana naye kazini mwake siku zote za maisha yake ambazo amepewa na Mungu chini ya jua.
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—
Nilipotafakari akilini mwangu ili nijue hekima na kuangalia kazi ya mwanadamu duniani, jinsi ambavyo macho yake hayapati usingizi mchana wala usiku,
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.
ndipo nikaona yale yote ambayo Mungu ameyafanya. Hakuna yeyote awezaye kuelewa yale yanayotendeka chini ya jua. Licha ya juhudi zake zote za kutafuta, mtu hawezi kugundua maana yake. Hata ingawa mtu mwenye hekima anadai kuwa anafahamu, kwa hakika hawezi kutambua.