Ecclesiastes 9
1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, [are] in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred [by] all [that is] before them.
Kwa kuwa nilifikiri haya yote katika akili zangu kufahamu kuhusu watu wenye haki na wenye hekima na matendo yao. Wote wako katika mikono ya Mungu. Hakuna anayefahamu kama upendo au chuki itakuja kwa mtu.
2 All [things come] alike to all: [there is] one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as [is] the good, so [is] the sinner; [and] he that sweareth, as [he] that feareth an oath.
kila mmoja ana mwisho sawa. Mwisho sawa una subiria watu wenye haki na waovu, wema, walio safi na wasio safi, yeye atoaye dhabibu na yule asiye dhabihu. Kama vile watu wema watakufa wenye dhambi nao watakufa vivyo hivyo. kama vile yule anayeapa atakavyo kufa, vivyo hivyo mtu yule aogopaye kuweka kiapo naye atakufa.
3 This [is] an evil among all [things] that are done under the sun, that [there is] one event to all: yes, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness [is] in their heart while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead.
Kuna mwisho mwovu kwa kila kitu kinachofanyika chini ya jua, na mwisho kwa kila mtu. Moyo wa mwanadamu umejaa uovu, na wazimu uko katika mioyo yao wakati wanaishi. Hivyo baada ya hilo wanaenda kwa wafu.
4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Kwa kuwa yeyote anayeungana na wote walio hai kuna tumaini, kama vile mbwa aliye hai ni bora kuliko simba aliye kufa.
5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Kwa kuwa watu walio hai, lakini walio kufa hawajui chochote. Hawana tena tuzo yeyote kwa sababu kumbukumbu yao imesahaulika.
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, hath now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any [thing] that is done under the sun.
Upendo wao, chuki na wivu vimekatiliwa mbali muda mwingi. Hawatapata sehemu katika kitu chochote kinachofanyika chini ya jua.
7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Nenda zako, kula mkate wako kwa furaha, na kunywa mvinyo wako na moyo wa furaha, kwa kuwa Mungu huruhusu kusherehekea kazi njema.
8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
Nguo zako ziwe nyeupe siku zote, na kichwa chako kipake mafuta.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that [is] thy portion in [this] life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun.
Ishi kwa furaha na mwanamke umpendaye siku zako zote za maisha yako ya ubatili, siku ambazo Mungu amekupatia chini ya jua wakati wa siku zako za ubatili. Hiyo ni thawabu kwa ajili ya kazi yako chini ya jua.
10 Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. (Sheol h7585)
Chochote mkono wako unakifanya, kifanye kwa nguvu zako kwa sababu hakuna kazi, au ufafanuzi au ujuzi au hekima katika Sheol, unapoenda. (Sheol h7585)
11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Nimeona baadhi ya vitu vyakuvutia chini ya jua: Mashindano hayatokani na watu wenye mbio. Vita havitokani na watu imara. Mkate hautokani na watu wenye busara. Mali hazitokani na watu wenye ufahamu. Kibali hakitokani na watu wenye ujuzi. Badala yake muda na bahati huwaathiri wao wote.
12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so [are] the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
Kwa kuwa hakuna anaye fahamu wakati wake wa kufa, kama vile samaki wanaswavyo katika nyavu ya kifo, au kama vile ndege akamatwavyo katika mtego. Kama wanyama wanadamu wamefungwa katika nyakati mbaya ambazo ghafla huwaangukia.
13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it [seemed] to me great:
Pia nimeona hekima chini ya jua kwa namna ambayo kwangu ilionekana kubwa.
14 [There was] a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
Kulikuwa na mji mdogo na watu wachache ndani yake, na mfalme mkuu akaja kinyume na mji huo na akauzingira na akajenga mahandaki kwa ajili ya kuushambulia.
15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Na katika mji kulikuwa na masikini, mtu mwenye hekima, ambaye kwa hekima yake aliuokoa mji. Ila baadaye aliye mkumbuka yule masikini.
16 Then said I, wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard.
Hivyo, nikasema, “Hekima ni bora kuliko nguvu, lakini hekima ya mtu masikini hudharauliwa, na maneno yake hayasikilizwi.”
17 The words of wise [men are] heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
Maneno ya watu wenye hekima yaliongewa polepole yanasikiwa vizuri kuliko makelele ya mtawala yeyote miongoni mwa wapumbavu.
18 Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.
Hekima ni bora kuliko silaha za vita, lakini mwenye dhambi mmoja anaweza kuharibu mazuri mengi.
