Ecclesiastes 2
1 [Then] I said to myself, “Okay, I will try to do everything that I enjoy. I will find out whether doing what I enjoy can truly enable me to be happy.” But I found out that doing that was also useless/senseless.
Dije en mi corazón: “Ven, te probaré con la alegría; ¡goza la felicidad!” Mas he aquí que también esto es vanidad.
2 [So] I said [to myself], “It is foolish to laugh [all the time], and continually doing what I enjoy does not seem to bring any lasting benefit.”
A la risa le dije: “¡Qué locura!”, y a la alegría: “¿De qué sirve?”
3 [So], after thinking a lot about it, I decided to (cheer myself/cause myself to be happy) by drinking [a lot of] wine. [So] while I was still trying to be wise, I decided to do things that [many] people do to be happy during the short time that they are alive on the earth.
Resolví en mi corazón regalar mi carne con el vino, mientras mi corazón me condujese con sabiduría, y entregarme a la necedad hasta saber cuál sea la cosa más útil para los hombres, y qué deben hacer bajo el cielo en los días de su vida.
4 I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
Realicé grandes obras: me edifiqué casas y planté viñas.
5 I [told my workers] to make gardens and parks. [Then] I [told them to] fill the gardens with many kinds of fruit trees.
Me hice jardines y vergeles, y planté en ellos toda suerte de árboles frutales.
6 I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
Me construí estanques de agua, para regar con ella el parque donde crecían los árboles.
7 I bought male and female slaves, and babies [who later became my slaves] were born in my palace. I also owned more livestock than any of the previous kings in Jerusalem had owned.
Compré esclavos y esclavas, y otros me nacieron en casa; tuve también mucho ganado, mayor y menor, más que cuantos me precedieron en Jerusalén.
8 I also accumulated large amounts of silver and gold [that were paid to me] from the treasures of kings and rulers of provinces. [I hired] men and women to sing for me, and I had many (concubines/slave wives) who gave me [much] pleasure [EUP].
Amontoné, además, plata y oro, tesoros de reyes y provincias; me procuré cantores y cantoras y las delicias del hombre: muchas mujeres.
9 So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
Fui grande y sobrepujé a cuantos antes de mí vivieron en Jerusalén; y también mi sabiduría permaneció conmigo.
10 I got everything [LIT] that I [SYN] saw and wanted. I did everything [LIT] that I thought would enable me to be happy. All those things that I [SYN] enjoyed were [like] a reward for all my hard work.
Nada negué a mis ojos de cuanto pedían, ni privé a mi corazón de placer alguno; porque mi corazón se gozaba de todos mis trabajos; y este fue mi premio en todos mis afanes.
11 [But] then I thought about all the hard work that I [SYN] had done [to get all those things], and none of it seems to bring any lasting benefit [DOU]. It was all [like] chasing the wind.
Mas considerando todas las obras de mis manos, y el trabajo que me habían costado, vi que todo era vanidad y correr tras el viento, y que no hay provecho alguno debajo del sol.
12 Then I started to think about being wise, and [also about] being foolish [DOU]. [I said to myself, “I certainly do not think that] [RHQ] the next king will be able to do anything better than I can.”
Dirigí entonces mi mirada a la sabiduría, a la insensatez y a la necedad. Pues, “¿qué puede hacer el que viene en pos del rey sino lo que otros hicieron ya antes?
13 And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
Y vi que la sabiduría lleva sobre la necedad tanta ventaja, cuanto la luz sobre las tinieblas.
14 [because] wise people [walk in the daylight and] [IDM] can see where they are going, but foolish people walk in the darkness [and cannot see where they are going].” But I [also] realized that both wise people and foolish people eventually die.
El sabio tiene sus ojos en la cabeza, mas el necio anda a oscuras”. Con todo observé que es una misma la suerte de todos.
15 So I said to myself, “I am very wise, but I will [die at the end of my life], like foolish people do. So (how has it benefited me to be very wise?/it certainly has not benefited me to be very wise [RHQ]). I do not understand why [people consider that] it is valuable to be wise.
Y dije en mi corazón: “La suerte del necio será también la mía. ¿De qué, pues, me sirve tanta sabiduría?” Por lo cual dije para mí: “¡Aun esto es vanidad!”
16 Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
Pues el recuerdo del sabio no es más durable que el del necio; pasados algunos días todos son olvidados. ¿Cómo es que el sabio muere igual que el necio?
17 So I hated being alive, because everything that we do here on the earth [MTY] distresses me. It all seems to be useless [like] chasing the wind.
Por esto aborrecí la vida, pues todo cuanto acaece bajo el sol no es más que calamidad, ya que todo es vanidad y correr tras el viento.
18 I [also began to] hate all the hard work that I had done, because [when I die], everything [that I have acquired] will belong to the next king.
Y aborrecí todos mis trabajos que había hecho bajo el sol, para dejarlos a quien venga después de mí.
19 And (who/no one) knows [RHQ] whether he will be wise or whether he will be foolish. But even if he is foolish, he will acquire all the things that I worked very hard and wisely to get.
Y ¿quién sabe si será un sabio o un necio? Ese será dueño de todos los frutos de mi trabajo que he desplegado bajo el sol. También esto es vanidad.
20 I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
Y comencé a desesperar en mi corazón de todos los trabajos que había hecho debajo del sol;
21 Some people work wisely and skillfully, using the things that they have learned. But [when they die], they leave everything, and someone who has not worked hard acquires those things. And that also [seemed to] be senseless and caused me to be discouraged.
puesto que aquel que realizó su trabajo con sabiduría, con inteligencia y destreza, ha de dejárselo como propiedad a quien no puso en ello las manos. También esto es vanidad y mal grande.
22 So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
En efecto ¿qué le queda al hombre de todos sus afanes, y de tanta aflicción que su corazón sufre bajo el sol?
23 Every day the work that they do causes them to experience pain and to be worried. And during the night, their minds are not able to rest. That also is very frustrating.
Todos sus días son dolor, y sus trabajos una pena; ni aun de noche descansa su corazón. También esto es vanidad.
24 [So I decided that] the best thing that we can do is to enjoy what we eat and drink, and [also] enjoy our work. And I realized that those things are what God intends for us.
No le queda al hombre cosa mejor que comer y beber, y recrear su alma con los frutos de sus fatigas. Y he visto que también esto viene de la mano de Dios.
25 There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
¿Quién, en efecto, puede comer y gozar si no es por Él?
26 God enables those who please him to be wise, to know [many things], and to enjoy [many things]. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God [can] take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. But that also is something that is difficult for me to understand. [Their working hard seems] useless, [like] chasing the wind.
Porque al que es bueno a sus ojos, a este le da Dios sabiduría, conocimiento y gozo; pero al pecador le da el trabajo de recoger y amontonar, para después pasarlo a aquel que es bueno delante de Dios. También esto es vanidad y correr tras el viento.
