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.”
Tänk uppå din Skapare i dinom ungdom, förr än de onda dagar komma, och åran nalkas, då du varder sägandes: De behaga mig intet;
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.
Förr än solen och ljuset, månen och stjernorna mörka varda, och molnen igenkomma efter regn;
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.
På den tid, då väktarena i huset darra, och de starke kröka sig, och mölnarena stå fåfänge, derföre att de så få vordne äro; och synen varder mörk genom fenstren;
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.
Och dörrarna på gatone tillslutna varda, så att rösten af qvarnene tystnar, och uppvaknar när foglen sjunger, och sångsens döttrar varda nedertryckta;
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.
Så att de ock för höjderna frukta sig, och rädas på vägen; när mandelträt blomstras, och gräshoppan förtynges, och all lust förgås; ty menniskan far dit hon evinnerliga blifva skall; och de som gråta, gå omkring på gatone;
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.
Förrän silftåget bortkommer, och guldkällan utlöper, och ämbaret gistnar vid brunnen, och hjulet söndergår vid brunnen.
7 Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
Ty stoftet måste åter komma till jord igen, såsom det varit hafver, och anden till Gud igen, den honom gifvit hafver.
8 [So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
Allt är fåfängelighet, sade Predikaren; allt är fåfängelighet.
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.
Den samme Predikaren var icke allenast vis; utan han lärde ock folket god lärdom, och märkte, och utransakade, och sammansatte mång ordspråk.
10 I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
Predikaren sökte, att han måtte finna tacknämlig ord, och skref rätt sanningenes ord.
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.
Denna de visas ord äro spjut och naglar, skrefne genom församlingenes mästare, och gifne af enom herda.
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.
Tag dig vara, min son, för andra flere; ty ingen ände är uppå att dikta böcker, och mycken predikan gör kroppen trött.
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.
Låt oss höra hufvudsummona till all lärdom: Frukta Gud, och håll hans bud; ty det hörer allom menniskom till.
14 And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
Ty Gud skall hafva fram alla gerningar för domen; ja, ock de der fördolda äro, ehvad de äro goda eller onda.
