Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is a wise man? Who knows what the events in life mean? Wisdom in a man causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
Tko je kao mudrac? Tko još umije tumačiti stvari? Mudrost čovjeku razvedruje lice i mijenja njegov namršteni lik.
2 I advise you to obey the king's command because of God's oath to protect him.
Zato velim: slušaj kraljevu zapovijed zbog Božje zakletve.
3 Do not hurry out of his presence, and do not stand in support of something wrong, for the king does whatever he desires.
Ne nagli da je prekršiš: ne budi tvrdoglav kad razlog nije dobar, jer on čini kako mu odgovara.
4 The king's word rules, so who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
Jer kraljeva je riječ najjača, i tko ga smije pitati: “Što činiš?”
5 Whoever keeps the king's commands avoids harm. A wise man's heart recognizes the proper course and time of action.
Tko se drži zapovijedi, ne poznaje nevolju, i mudrac zna za vrijeme i sud.
6 For every matter there is a correct response and a time to respond, because the troubles of man are great.
Jer postoji vrijeme i sud za sve, i čovjeka veoma tereti nedjelo njegovo
7 No one knows what is coming next. Who can tell him what is coming?
jer on ne zna što će biti; a tko mu može kazati kad će što biti?
8 No one is ruler over his breath so as to stop the breath, and no one has power over the day of his death. No one is discharged from the army during a battle, and wickedness will not rescue those who are its slaves.
Vjetar nitko ne može svladati, niti gospodariti nad danom smrtnim, niti ima odgode u ratu; niti opačina izbavlja onoga koji je čini.
9 I have realized all this; I have applied my heart to every kind of work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person oppresses another person to that person's hurt.
Sve ovo vidjeh pazeći na sve što se čini pod suncem, kad čovjek vlada nad čovjekom na njegovu nesreću.
10 So I saw the wicked buried publicly. They were taken from the holy area and buried and were praised by people in the city where they had done their wicked deeds. This also is uselessness.
Dalje vidjeh kako opake nose na groblje, i ljudi iz svetog mjesta izlaze da ih slave zbog toga što su tako činili. I to je ispraznost.
11 When a sentence against an evil crime is not executed quickly, it entices the hearts of human beings to do evil.
Kad nema brze osude za zlo djelo, ljudsko je srce sklono činiti zlo.
12 Even though a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives a long time, yet I know that it will be better for those who respect God, for those who stand before him and show him respect.
I grešnik koji čini zlo i sto puta, dugo živi. Ja ipak znam da će biti sretni oni koji se boje Boga jer ga se boje.
13 But it will not go well for a wicked man; his life will not be prolonged. His days are like a fleeting shadow because he does not honor God.
Ali opak čovjek neće biti sretan i neće produljivati svoje dane ni kao sjena jer se ne boji Boga.
14 There is another useless vapor—something else that is done on the earth. Things happen to righteous people as they happen to wicked people, and things happen to wicked people as they happen to righteous people. I say that this also is useless vapor.
Ali je na zemlji ispraznost te pravednike stiže sudbina opakih, a opake sudbina pravednika. Velim: i to je ispraznost.
15 So I recommend happiness, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink and to be happy. It is happiness that will accompany him in his labor for all the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
Zato slavim veselje, jer nema čovjeku sreće pod suncem nego u jelu, pilu i nasladi. I to neka ga prati u njegovoj muci za života koji mu Bog dade pod suncem.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to understand the work that is done on the earth, work often done without sleep for the eyes at night or in the day,
Poslije svih napora da dokučim mudrost, pokušah spoznati što se radi na zemlji. Uistinu, čovjek ne nalazi spokojstva ni danju ni noću.
17 then I considered all of God's deeds, and that man cannot understand the work that is done under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to find the answers, he will not find them. Even though a wise man might believe he knows, he really does not.
Promatram cjelokupno djelo Božje: i odista - nitko ne može dokučiti ono što se zbiva pod suncem. Jer ma koliko se čovjek trudio da otkrije, nikad ne može otkriti. Pa ni mudrac to ne može otkriti, iako misli da zna.
