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.”
E HOOMANAO oe i kou Mea nana i hana, I na la o kou noho opiopio ana; Oi hiki ole mai na la ino, A hookokoke ole ia mai na makahiki, Au e olelo ai, Aole o'u oluolu i keia mau mea:
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.
I ka wa i pouli ole ai ka la, a me ka malamalama, O ka mahina hoi a me na hoku; A hoi ole mai na ao mahope o ka ua:
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.
I ka la i haalulu ai na kiai hale, A kulou ilalo na kanaka ikaika; A oki ka poe wili no ka hapa, A i pouli ai na mea nana ma na puka makani;
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.
A paniia na puka ma ke alanui, I ka wa i uuku mai ai ka leo o ka wili ana; A e ala ae oia i ka leo o ka manu, A e hoohaahaaia na kaikamahine lea i ke oli a pau.
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.
A makau lakou i na mea kiekie; Aia hoi ma ke alanui na mea e weliweli ai, Ua hoopailua hoi ka laau alemona, A o ka uhini, he mea ia e kaumaha ai, A lilo no hoi ka hua kepa i mea mikomiko ole; No ka mea, hele ke kanaka i kona hale mau, A hele ka poe kanikau ma na alanui:
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.
Oi moku ole ia ke kaula kala, Aole hoi i naha ke kiaha gula; Aole naha ka bakeke ma ka punawai, Aole hoi i naha ke kaa ma ka luawai.
7 Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
Alaila, e hoi ka lepo i ka honua e like me ia mamua, A o ka uhane, e hoi ia i ke Akua nana ia i haawi mai.
8 [So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
Lapuwale o na lapuwale, wahi a ke kahuna, pau na mea i ka lapuwale.
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.
Eia hoi kekahi: I ko ke kahuna naauao ana, ua ao mau aku oia i na kanaka; ua noonoo oia, a imi, a hooponopono hoi i na olelo akamai he nui hoa.
10 I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
Ua imi iho la ke kahuna e loaa mai na olelo oluolu, a o na mea i kakauia, he olelo pololei ia a me ka oiaio hoi.
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.
O na olelo a ka poe naauao, ua like ia me na mea oi, a me na kui i makiaia a paa e ka poe luna o ka ahakanaka, na mea i haawiia'ku ai e ke kahu hookahi.
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.
Eia hoi kekahi: E aoia mai oe, e ka'u keiki, e keia mau mea; o ka hana ana i na buke he nui loa, he mea hope ole ia, a o ka imi nui i ka palapala, he mea ia e luhi ai ke kino.
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.
E hoolohe oe i ka hope o keia mau mea a pau. E makau i ke Akua, a e malama i kona mau kanawai, no ka mea. oia ka ke kanaka [pono] a pau.
14 And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
No ka mea, e hookomo ana ke Akua i na hana a pau, a me na mea a pau i hunaia iloko o ka hookolokoloia, ina paha he pono, ina paha he hewa.
