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.”
Lembra-te do teu criador nos dias da tua mocidade, antes que venham os maus dias, e cheguem os anos dos quais venhas a dizer: Não tenho neles contentamento:
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.
Antes que se escureçam o sol, e a luz, e a lua, e as estrelas, e tornem a vir as nuvens depois da chuva:
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.
No dia em que tremerem os guardas da casa, e se encurvarem os fortes varões, e cessarem os moedores, por já serem poucos, e se escurecerem os que olham pelas janelas;
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.
E as duas portas da rua se fecharem por causa do baixo ruído da moedura, e se levantar à voz das aves, e todas as vozes do canto se encurvarem:
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.
Como também quando temerem os lugares altos, e houver espantos no caminho, e florescer a amendoeira, e o gafanhoto o carregar, e perecer o apetite, porque o homem se vai à sua eterna casa, e os pranteadores andarão rodeando pela praça.
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.
Antes que se quebre a cadeia de prata, e se despedace o copo de ouro, e se despedace o cântaro junto à fonte, e se despedace a roda junto ao poço,
7 Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
E o pó voltar à terra, como o era, e o espírito voltar a Deus, que o deu.
8 [So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
Vaidade de vaidade, diz o pregador, tudo é vaidade.
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.
E, quanto mais o pregador foi sábio, tanto mais sabedoria ao povo ensinou, e atentou, e esquadrinhou, e compoz muitos provérbios.
10 I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
Procurou o pregador achar palavras agradáveis; e o escrito é a retidão, palavras de verdade.
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.
As palavras dos sábios são como aguilhões, e como pregos, bem afixados pelos mestres das congregações, que nos foram dados pelo único Pastor.
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.
E, de mais disto, filho meu, atenta: não há limite para fazer livros, e o muito estudar enfado é da carne.
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.
De tudo o que se tem ouvido, o fim da coisa é: Teme a Deus, e guarda os seus mandamentos; porque isto é o dever de todo o homem.
14 And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
Porque Deus há de trazer a juízo toda a obra, e até tudo o que está encoberto, quer seja bom quer seja mau.
