Ecclesiastes 3
1 Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here:
A cungkuem dongah a tuetang om tih vaan hmuikah kongaih boeih dongah khaw a tue om.
2 A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest.
Cun ham tue neh duek ham tue khaw om. Aka phung hamla phung ham tue neh haih ham tue om.
3 A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building up.
Ngawn ham tue neh hoeih sak ham tue khaw om. Phae ham tue neh sak ham tue khaw om.
4 A time of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing.
Rhah tue neh luem tue khaw om. Rhaengsae tue neh soipet tue khaw om.
5 A time of throwing away stones, and a time of gathering up stones. A time of embracing, and a time of avoiding embracing.
Lungto voeih tue neh lungto calui tue khaw om. Kop tue neh a kop lamloh lakhla tue khaw om.
6 A time of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away.
Tlap tue neh paltham tue khaw om. Ngaithuen tue neh voeih tue khaw om.
7 A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up.
Phen tue neh bo tue khaw om. Duem om ham tue neh thui tue khaw om.
8 A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace.
Lungnah tue neh thiinah tue om. Caemtloek tue neh rhoepnah tue om.
9 So what do you get for all your hard work?
Anih thakthaekung lamloh mebang rhoeikhangnah lae a saii?
10 I have examined what God gives us to do.
Anih te phaep hamla Pathen loh hlang ca rhoek soah a paek te khaw bibi la ka hmuh.
11 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.
A cungkuem he amah tue neh sakthen la a saii tih kumhal kah te khaw amih lungbuei ah a khueh pah. Te pawt cakhaw, a tong lamloh a bawt hil Pathen loh a saii bibi te hlang loh a hmuh moenih.
12 I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in life.
Amah hingnah dongah kohoe ham neh a then saii ham lakah amih ham a then a om moenih.
13 In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us.
Hlang boeih he khaw ca mai saeh lamtah o mai saeh, hnothen khaw hmu mai saeh. Te te amah kah thakthaenah cungkuem khuiah Pathen kah kutdoe ni.
14 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.
Pathen loh a cungkuem a saii tila ka ming. Amah tah kumhal duela om. Amah soah thap ham om pawt tih anih lamkah te yueh ham khaw a om bal moenih. Te dongah a mikhmuh ah a rhih uh ham ni Pathen loh a saii.
15 Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.
Aka om oepsoeh te khaw, aka om ham te khaw om oepsoeh coeng. Te dongah a hloem tangtae te Pathen loh a toem.
16 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.
Laitloeknah hmuen ah halangnah hnap om tih, duengnah hmuen ah halangnah hnap a om te khomik hmuiah koep ka hmuh.
17 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.”
Ka lungbuei ah tah, “A kongaih boeih ham neh a bibi boeih ham khaw a tue a om coeng dongah, aka dueng neh halang khaw Pathen loh lai a tloek ni,” ka ti.
18 I also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than animals.”
Hlang ca rhoek kah dumlai dongah khaw ka lungbuei ah, “Amih te Pathen loh coelh saeh lamtah, amih bang he rhamsa ni amamih loh hmu saeh,” ka ti mai.
19 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!
Hlang ca rhoek kah a hmatoeng neh rhamsa kah hmatoeng khaw hmatoeng pakhat ni. Amih ham he kah dueknah bangla ke dueknah khaw om tih a cungkuem ham hil pakhat la om. Te dongah rhamsa lakah hlang kah kumkonah a om moenih. A cungkuem he a honghi ni.
20 They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.
A cungkuem he hmuen pakhat la cet. A cungkuem helaipi lamloh ha thoeng. A cungkuem he laipi la mael.
21 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?
Hlang ca rhoek kah mueihla tah a so la cet tih rhamsa mueihla tah diklai khuila a suntlak thuk khaw ulong a ming?
22 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?
Te dongah a hamsum bangla a bibi dongah hlang a kohoe lakah ah a then om pawh tila ka hmuh. A hnukah aka thoeng ham te hmuh sak hamla ulong anih a khuen thai?
