Ecclesiastes 12
1 Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, or ever the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Spomni se torej svojega Stvarnika v dneh svoje mladosti, ko niso prišli zli dnevi niti se niso približala leta, ko boš rekel: »V njih nimam veselja, «
2 or ever the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain:
dokler sonce ali svetloba ali luna ali zvezde ne bodo otemnele niti se oblaki vrnili za dežjem,
3 in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
na dan, ko bodo čuvaji hiše trepetali in se bodo močni možje sklonili in mlinarji odnehajo, ker jih je malo in tisti, ki gledajo skozi okna, postanejo zatemnjeni
4 and the door shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
in bodo vrata po ulicah zaprta, ko je glas mletja nizek in bo vstal ob ptičjem glasu in bodo ponižane vse hčere petja;
5 yea, they shall be afraid of [that which is] high, and terrors [shall be] in the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and the caper-berry shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
tudi ko jih bo strah tega, kar je visoko in bodo strahovi na poti in bo mandljevec cvetel in bo kobilica breme in bo hrepenenje izneverilo; ker človek odhaja k svojemu dolgemu domu in žalovalci gredo po ulicah,
6 or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern;
ali preden se srebrna vrvica odveže ali zlomi zlata skledica ali lončen vrč razbije ob studencu ali zlomi kolo pri vodnem zbiralniku.
7 and the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit return unto God who gave it.
Potem se bo prah vrnil k zemlji, kakor je bil; in duh se bo vrnil k Bogu, ki ga je dal.
8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.
»Ničevost ničevosti, « pravi pridigar, »vse je ničevost.«
9 And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, [and] set in order many proverbs.
In poleg tega, ker je bil pridigar moder, še vedno uči ljudstvo spoznanja. Da, pazil je, poiskal in uredil mnogo pregovorov.
10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, [even] words of truth.
Pridigar je iskal, da odkrije sprejemljive besede in to, kar je bilo napisano, je bilo iskreno, celó besede resnice.
11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails well fastened are [the words of] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from one shepherd.
Besede modrih so kakor palice z bodicami in kakor žeblji, pritrjeni s pomočjo gospodarjev zborov, ki so izročeni od enega pastirja.
12 And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Nadalje, moj sin, bodi opomnjen s temi. Pisanju mnogih knjig ni konca in mnogo učenja je utrujenost telesu.
13 [This is] the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole [duty] of man.
Prisluhnimo zaključku celotne zadeve: »Boj se Boga in se drži njegovih zapovedi, kajti to je vsa človekova dolžnost.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.
Kajti Bog bo vsako delo privedel na sodbo, z vsako skrivno stvarjo, bodisi je ta dobra, bodisi je ta slaba.«
