Ecclesiastes 7
1 Better [is] a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth.
Bolji je dobar glas nego skupocjeno ulje, i smrtni dan nego dan rođenja.
2 Better to go to a house of mourning, Than to go to a house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men, And the living lays [it] to his heart.
Bolje je ići u kuću gdje je žalost nego u kuću gdje je gozba, jer ondje je kraj svakoga čovjeka, i tko je živ, nek' primi k srcu!
3 Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becomes better.
Bolji je jad nego smijeh, jer pod žalosnim licem srce je radosno.
4 The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.
Srce je mudrih ljudi u kući žalosti, a srce bezumnih u kući veselja.
5 Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than [for] a man to hear a song of fools,
Bolje je poslušati ukor mudra čovjeka negoli slušati hvalospjev luđaka.
6 For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So [is] the laughter of a fool, even this [is] vanity.
Jer kao prasak trnja ispod kotla, takav je smijeh luđaka, i to je ispraznost.
7 Surely oppression makes the wise mad, And a gift destroys the heart.
Jer smijeh od mudraca čini luđaka i veselje kvari srce.
8 Better [is] the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better [is] the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit.
Bolji je svršetak stvari nego njezin početak i bolja je strpljivost od oholosti.
9 Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools rests.
Ne nagli u srdžbu, jer srdžba počiva u srcu luđaka.
10 Do not say, “What was it, That the former days were better than these?” For you have not asked wisely of this.
Ne pitaj zašto su negdašnja vremena bila bolja od ovih, jer to nije mudro pitanje.
11 Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance, And an advantage [it is] to those beholding the sun.
Mudrost je dragocjena baština i probitak onima na koje sunce sja.
12 For wisdom [is] a defense, money [is] a defense, And the advantage of the knowledge of wisdom [is], She revives her possessors.
Jer kao što je novac zaštita, tako je i mudrost; a prednost je mudrosti u tome što izbavlja onoga tko je ima.
13 See the work of God, For who is able to make straight that which He made crooked?
Pogledaj djela Božja; tko može ispraviti što je on iskrivio?
14 In a day of prosperity be in gladness, And in a day of calamity consider: God has also made this alongside of that, To the intent that man does not find anything after him.
U sretan dan uživaj sreću, a u zao dan razmišljaj: Bog je stvorio jedno kao i drugo - da čovjek ne otkrije ništa od svoje budućnosti.
15 The whole I have considered in the days of my vanity. There is a righteous one perishing in his righteousness, and there is a wrongdoer prolonging [himself] in his wrong.
Svašta vidjeh u svojemu ništavnom životu: pravednik propada unatoč svojoj pravednosti, a bezbožnik i dalje živi unatoč svojoj bezbožnosti.
16 Do not be over-righteous, nor show yourself too wise, why are you desolate?
Ne budi prepravedan i ne budi premudar; zašto da se uništavaš?
17 Do not do much wrong, neither be a fool, why do you die within your time?
Ne budi preopak i ne budi lud; zašto bi umro prije vremena?
18 [It is] good that you lay hold on this, and also, do not withdraw your hand from that, for whoever is fearing God goes out with them all.
Dobro je da držiš jedno, ali ni drugo ne puštaj iz ruke, jer tko se boji Boga, izbavlja se od svega.
19 The wisdom gives strength to a wise man, more than wealth the rulers who have been in a city.
Mudrost mudraca veću moć daje gradu nego deset mogućnika.
20 Because there is not a righteous man on earth that does good and does not sin.
Na zemlji nema pravednika koji, čineći dobro, ne bi nikad sagriješio.
21 Also to all the words that they speak do not give your heart, that you do not hear your servant reviling you.
I još jedno: nemoj se obazirati na govorkanje; čut ćeš možda da te sluga tvoj proklinjao;
22 For many times also has your heart known that you yourself have also reviled others.
a zna tvoje srce kako si i ti često druge proklinjao.
23 All this I have tried by wisdom; I have said, “I am wise,” and it [is] far from me.
Sve sam to mudrošću iskušao. Mislio sam da sam mudar, ali mi je mudrost bila nedokučiva.
24 Far off [is] that which has been, and deep, deep, who finds it?
Ono što jest, daleko je i duboko, tako duboko - tko da i pronađe?
25 I have turned around, also my heart, to know and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and reason, and to know the wrong of folly, and the madness of foolishness.
I još jednom pokušah istražiti i shvatiti mudrost i smisao, da spoznam opačinu kao ludost, a ludost kao bezumlje.
26 And I am finding more bitter than death, the woman whose heart [is] nets and snares, her hands [are] bands; the good before God escapes from her, but the sinner is captured by her.
Otkrih da ima nešto gorče od smrti - žena, ona je zamka, srce joj je mreža, a ruke okovi; tko je Bogu drag, izmiče joj, a grešnik je njezin sužanj.
27 See, this I have found, said the Preacher, one to one, to find out the reason
Eto, to sam sve u svemu otkrio, veli Propovjednik.
28 (that still my soul had sought, and I had not found), One man, a teacher, I have found, and a woman among all these I have not found.
I još sam tražio, ali bez uspjeha. Nađoh čovjeka - jednog od tisuću, a žene ne nađoh među svima nijedne.
29 See, this alone I have found, that God made man upright, and they have sought out many inventions.
Otkrih ovo: Bog stvori čovjeka jednostavnim, a on snuje nebrojene spletke.
