Ecclesiastes 12
1 While you are still young, keep thinking about [God], who created you. Do that before [you are old] and you experience many troubles, during the years when you say “I no [longer] enjoy being alive.”
I sjećaj se svoga Stvoritelja u danima svoje mladosti prije nego dođu zli dani i prispiju godine kad ćeš reći: “Ne mile mi se.”
2 [When you become old], the light from the sun and moon and stars will [seem] dim [to you], and [it will seem that the rain] clouds [always] return [quickly] after it rains.
Prije nego potamni sunce i svjetlost, mjesec i zvijezde, i vrate se oblaci iza kiše.
3 Then your [arms that you use to protect] [MET] your bodies will shake/tremble, and your [legs that support] [MET] your bodies will become weak. Many of your [teeth that you use to] grind/chew [your food] will fall out, and your [eyes that you use to] look out of windows will not see clearly.
U dan kad zadrhte čuvari kuće i pognu se junaci, i dosađuju se mlinarice jer ih je premalo, i potamne oni koji gledaju kroz prozore;
4 Your [ears] [MET] will not hear the noise in the streets, and you will not be able to hear clearly the sound of people grinding grain with millstones. You will be awakened in the morning by hearing the birds singing/chirping, [but] you will not be able to hear well the songs that (the birds/people) sing.
kad se zatvore ulična vrata, oslabi šum mlina, kad utihne pjev ptice i zamru zvuci pjesme.
5 You will be afraid to be in high places and afraid of dangers on the roads that you walk on. [Your hair] will become [white like] [MET] the flowers of almond trees. [When you try to walk], you will drag yourself along like [MET] grasshoppers, and you will no longer desire [to have sex]. Then you will [die and] go to your eternal home, and people who will mourn for you will be in the streets.
Kad je put uzbrdo muka i svaki izlazak prijetnja; a badem je u cvatu, i skakavac ne skače više, i koprov plot puca, jer čovjek ide u svoj vječni dom! A narikače već se kreću ulicama.
6 [Think much about God now, because] soon our lives will end, [like] [MET] silver chains or golden bowls that break easily, or like pitchers/jugs that are broken at the water fountain, or like broken pulleys at a well.
Prije nego se prekine srebrna vrpca i zlatna se svjetiljka razbije i razlupa se vrč na izvoru i slomi točak na bunaru;
7 Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
i vrati se prah u zemlju kao što je iz nje i došao, a duh se vrati Bogu koji ga je dao.
8 [So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
Ispraznost nad ispraznostima, veli Propovjednik, sve je ispraznost.
9 I was considered to be a very wise man, and I taught the people many things. I assembled/collected and wrote down many proverbs, and I carefully thought about and studied them.
A osim toga što je sam Propovjednik bio mudar, on je i narod učio mudrosti te je odmjerio, ispitao i sastavio mnogo mudrih izreka.
10 I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
Ujedno se Propovjednik trudio pronaći prikladne riječi i izravno izraziti istinu.
11 The things that [I and other] wise people say [teach people what they should do]; they are like [SIM] (goads/sharp sticks that people use to strike animals to direct where they should go). They are like [SIM] nails that stick out of pieces of wood. They are given to us by [God, who is like] [MET] our shepherd.
Besjede su mudrih ljudi kao ostani i kao pobodeni kolci: pastir se njima služi na dobro svojega stada.
12 [So], my son, pay careful attention to what I have written, and choose carefully what you read that others have written, [because] writing proverbs/books is endless, and [trying to] study them all will cause you to become exhausted.
I na kraju, sine moj, znaj da je neizmjerno mnogo truda potrebno da se napiše knjiga i da mnogo učenje umara tijelo.
13 [Now] you have heard all [that I have told you], and here is the conclusion: Revere God, and obey his commandments, because those commandments summarize everything that people should do.
Čujmo svemu završnu riječ: “Boj se Boga, izvršuj njegove zapovijedi, jer - to je sav čovjek.”
14 And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
Jer sva će skrivena djela, bila dobra ili zla, Bog izvesti na sud.
