Ecclesiastes 3
1 To everything—a season, and a time to every delight under the heavens:
Kuna wakati kwa ajili ya kila jambo, nayo majira kwa kila tendo chini ya mbingu:
2 A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted.
wakati wa kuzaliwa na wakati wa kufa, wakati wa kupanda na wakati wa kungʼoa yaliyopandwa,
3 A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break down, And a time to build up.
wakati wa kuua na wakati wa kuponya, wakati wa kubomoa, na wakati wa kujenga,
4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh. A time to mourn, And a time to skip.
wakati wa kulia na wakati wa kucheka, wakati wa kuomboleza na wakati wa kucheza,
5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones. A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing.
wakati wa kutawanya mawe na wakati wa kukusanya mawe, wakati wa kukumbatia na wakati wa kutokumbatia,
6 A time to seek, And a time to destroy. A time to keep, And a time to cast away.
wakati wa kutafuta na wakati wa kupoteza, wakati wa kuweka na wakati wa kutupa,
7 A time to tear, And a time to sew. A time to be silent, And a time to speak.
wakati wa kurarua na wakati wa kushona, wakati wa kunyamaza na wakati wa kuzungumza,
8 A time to love, And a time to hate. A time of war, And a time of peace.
wakati wa kupenda na wakati wa kuchukia, wakati wa vita na wakati wa amani.
9 What advantage does the doer have in that which he is laboring at?
Mfanyakazi anapata faida gani kutokana na taabu yake?
10 I have seen the travail that God has given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
Nimeona mzigo Mungu alioweka juu ya wanadamu.
11 The whole He has made beautiful in its season; also, that knowledge He has put in their heart without which man does not find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.
Amefanya kila kitu kiwe kizuri kwa wakati wake. Pia ameiweka hiyo milele katika mioyo ya wanadamu, wala hawawezi kutambua kwa kina yale ambayo Mungu amefanya tangu mwanzo hadi mwisho.
12 I have known that there is no good for them except to rejoice and to do good during their life,
Ninajua kwamba hakuna kitu bora kwa wanadamu kuliko kuwa na furaha na kutenda mema wakati wanapoishi.
13 indeed, even every man who eats and has drunk and seen good by all his labor, it [is] a gift of God.
Tena ni karama ya Mungu kila mtu apate kula na kunywa na kujiburudisha kwa mema katika kazi yake yote.
14 I have known that all that God does is for all time, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God has worked that they fear before Him.
Ninajua kwamba kila kitu anachokifanya Mungu kitadumu milele, hakuna kinachoweza kuongezwa au kupunguzwa. Mungu hufanya hivyo ili watu wamche yeye.
15 What is that which has been? Already it is, and that which [is] to be has already been, and God requires that which is pursued.
Chochote kilichopo kilishakuwepo, na kitakachokuwepo kimekwishakuwepo kabla; naye Mungu huyaita yale yaliyopita yarudi tena.
16 And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment—there [is] the wicked; and the place of righteousness—there [is] the wicked.
Pia nikaona kitu kingine tena chini ya jua: Mahali pa kutolea hukumu, uovu ulikuwepo, mahali pa kupatia haki, uovu ulikuwepo.
17 I said in my heart, “The righteous and the wicked God judges, for a time [is] to every matter and for every work there.”
Nikafikiri moyoni mwangu, “Mungu atawaleta hukumuni wote wawili wenye haki na waovu, kwa maana kutakuwako na wakati kwa ajili ya kila jambo, wakati kwa ajili ya kila tendo.”
18 I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves [are] beasts.
Pia nikafikiri, “Kuhusu wanadamu, Mungu huwajaribu ili wajione kwamba wao ni kama wanyama.
19 For an event [is to] the sons of man, and an event [is to] the beasts, even one event [is] to them; as the death of this, so [is] the death of that; and one spirit [is] to all, and the advantage of man above the beast is nothing, for the whole [is] vanity.
Hatima ya mwanadamu ni kama ile ya wanyama; wote wana mwisho unaofanana: Jinsi anavyokufa mnyama, ndivyo anavyokufa mwanadamu. Wote wana pumzi inayofanana; mwanadamu hana cha zaidi kuliko mnyama. Kila kitu ni ubatili.
20 The whole are going to one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back to the dust.
Wote huenda mahali panapofanana; wote hutoka mavumbini, mavumbini wote hurudi.
21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of man that is going up on high, and the spirit of the beast that is going down below to the earth?
Ni nani ajuaye kama roho ya mtu huenda juu na roho ya mnyama hushuka chini ardhini?”
22 And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man rejoice in his works, for it [is] his portion; for who brings him to look on that which is after him?
Kwa hiyo nikaona kwamba hakuna kitu kilicho bora zaidi kwa mwanadamu kuliko kuifurahia kazi yake, kwa sababu hilo ndilo fungu lake. Kwa maana ni nani awezaye kumrudisha ili aje kuona kile kitakachotendeka baada yake?
