Ecclesiastes 5
1 When you enter God’s temple, you should be sure to listen carefully. Doing that is better than offering sacrifices to God [and then not obeying him], which is foolish.
Va'r din Fod, naar du gaar til Guds Hus! At komme for at høre er bedre, end at Daarer bringer Slagtoffer, thi de har ikke Forstand til andet end at gøre ondt.
2 Think carefully before you speak [MTY] or before you promise God that you will do something [IDM]. [Do not forget that] God is in heaven [and he is all-powerful] and you are here on the earth, so think carefully before you [make any promises to God].
Lad ikke din Mund løbe eller dit Hjerte haste med at udtale et Ord for Guds Aasyn; thi Gud er i Himmelen og du paa Jorden, derfor skal dine Ord være faa.
3 If you are continually thinking [and worrying] about things, you will have bad dreams about them and not rest [well]. And the more you talk, the more likely it will be that you will say things that are foolish.
Thi meget Slid giver Drømme, og mange Ord giver Daaretale.
4 When you solemnly promise God that you will do something, do not be foolish by delaying in doing it, because God is not pleased with foolish people. Do [all] the things that you promise God that you will do.
Naar du giver Gud et Løfte, saa tøv ikke med at holde det! Thi der er ingen Glæde ved Daarer. Hvad du lover, skal du holde.
5 It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
Det er bedre, at du ikke lover, end at du lover uden at holde.
6 Do not sin by promising to do something and then not doing it. And [when you promise God to do something and do not do it], do not say to God’s priest that it was a mistake for you to promise to do that. If you do that, God will certainly [RHQ] become very angry with you, and he will take from you everything that you [SYN] have worked to acquire.
Lad ikke din Mund bringe Skyld over dit Legeme og sig ikke til Guds Sendebud, at det var af Vanvare! Hvorfor skal Gud vredes over din Tale og nedbryde dine Hænders Værk?
7 Promising to do something and not doing it is like [SIM] a dream that has no value; instead, revere God [by doing what you promised him that you would do].
Thi af mange Drømme og Ord kommer mange Skuffelser; nej, frygt Gud!
8 Do not be surprised if you see poor [people] being (oppressed/treated cruelly) [by powerful/influential people], or if you see judges making unjust decisions throughout the land. [That happens] because the people who do that are supervised [and cheated by] more important officials [DOU],
Naar du ser den fattige undertrykt og Lov og Ret krænket paa din Egn, saa undre dig ikke over den Ting; thi paa den høje vogter en højere, og andre endnu højere vogter paa dem begge.
9 and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
Dog, en Fordel for et Land er det i alt Fald, at der er en Konge over dyrket Jord.
10 Everyone who tries to [get as much] money as they can will never think that they have enough. They will never be satisfied with the money that they have. That also is senseless.
Den, der elsker Sølv, mættes aldrig af Sølv, og den, der elsker Rigdom, mættes aldrig af Vinding. Ogsaa det er Tomhed.
11 The more money that we have, the more people want us to spend our money to buy things for them. So people who have a lot of money do not [RHQ] benefit from it; they see [MTY] it when they get it, but it soon (disappears/is completely spent).
Jo mere Gods, des flere til at fortære det, og hvad Gavn har Ejeren da deraf, ud over at hans Øjne ser det?
12 Those who work hard sleep peacefully [at night], even if they do not have much food to eat. But rich [people] do not sleep well, because [they worry] about their money.
Sød er Arbejderens Søvn, hvad enten han har lidt eller meget at spise; men den riges Overflod giver ikke ham Lov til at sove.
13 I have seen [another] terrible thing that happens here on the earth [MTY]: People save [up all] their money and become rich, [but] they are not helped by saving a lot of money,
Der er et slemt Onde, som jeg saa under Solen: Rigdom gemt hen af sin Ejermand til hans Ulykke;
14 [because] something happens that causes their money to be gone, and when they die, there is no money for their children to get/inherit.
gaar Rigdommen tabt ved et Uheld, og han har avlet en Søn, saa bliver der intet til ham.
15 When we are born, we do not bring anything with us, and when we die, we take nothing with us from all that we have earned by our working hard.
Som han udgik af sin Moders Liv, skal han atter gaa bort, lige saa nøgen som han kom, og ved sin Flid vinder han intet, han kan tage med sig.
16 That also seems senseless. People bring nothing [into the world when they are born], and they leave [this world] taking nothing with them. They have worked hard, but they receive no lasting benefit [MET].
Ogsaa det er et slemt Onde: ganske som han kom, gaar han bort, og hvad Vinding har han saa af, at han gør sig Flid hen i Vejret?
17 [Furthermore, rich people] are always miserable [MET] and sad, and depressed/discouraged and often sick and (resentful/thinking that what has happened to them is unfair).
Og dertil kommer et helt Liv i Mørke, Sorg og stor Kvide, Sygdom og Kummer.
18 So, the best thing for people to do here on the earth during the few years that God allows them to be alive is to eat and drink and to enjoy their work, because those are the things that God has given to them.
Se, hvad der efter mit Skøn er godt og smukt, det er at spise og drikke og nyde det gode under al den Flid, man gør sig under Solen, alle de Levedage Gud giver en; thi det er den Del, man har;
19 If people are rich and have a lot of possessions, and are able to (enjoy/be happy with) the things that they have and to enjoy their work, those things are [also] gifts from God.
og hver Gang Gud giver et Menneske Rigdom og Gods og sætter ham i Stand til at nyde det, og tage sin Del og glæde sig under sin Flid, da er det en Guds Gave;
20 Those people do not worry much about [everything that has happened] during the time that they have been alive, because God enables them to be happy doing everything that they do.
thi da tænker han ikke stort paa sine Levedage, idet Gud lader ham være optaget af sit Hjertes Glæde.
