Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who [is] as the wise? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? The wisdom of man causeth his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
Ni nani aliye kama mtu mwenye hekima? Ni nani ajuaye maelezo ya mambo? Hekima hungʼarisha uso wa mtu na kubadili ugumu wa uso wake.
2 I pray thee, the commandment of a king keep, even for the sake of the oath of God.
Nawaambia, Tii amri ya mfalme, kwa sababu uliapa mbele za Mungu.
3 Be not troubled at his presence, thou mayest go, stand not in an evil thing, for all that he pleaseth he doth.
Usiharakishe kuondoka mbele ya mfalme. Usiendelee kutenda lililo baya, kwa maana mfalme atafanya lolote apendalo.
4 Where the word of a king [is] power [is], and who saith to him, 'What dost thou?'
Kwa kuwa neno la mfalme ndilo lenye mamlaka ya mwisho, nani awezaye kumwambia, “Je, wewe unafanya nini?”
5 Whoso is keeping a command knoweth no evil thing, and time and judgment the heart of the wise knoweth.
Yeyote anayetii agizo lake hatadhurika, moyo wa hekima utajua wakati muafaka na jinsi ya kutenda.
6 For to every delight there is a time and a judgment, for the misfortune of man is great upon him.
Kwa maana kuna wakati muafaka na utaratibu wa kila jambo, ingawa huzuni ya mwanadamu huwa nzito juu yake.
7 For he knoweth not that which shall be, for when it shall be who declareth to him?
Kwa vile hakuna mtu ajuaye siku zijazo, ni nani awezaye kumwambia linalokuja?
8 There is no man ruling over the spirit to restrain the spirit, and there is no authority over the day of death, and there is no discharge in battle, and wickedness delivereth not its possessors.
Hakuna mwanadamu awezaye kushikilia roho yake asife, wala hakuna mwenye uwezo juu ya siku ya kufa kwake. Kama vile hakuna yeyote arudishwaye nyuma wakati wa vita, kadhalika uovu hautawaweka huru wale wautendao.
9 All this I have seen so as to give my heart to every work that hath been done under the sun; a time that man hath ruled over man to his own evil.
Yote haya niliyaona, nilipokuwa natafakari kila kitu kinachotendeka chini ya jua. Kuna wakati ambapo mtu hujifanya bwana juu ya wengine kwa madhara yake mwenyewe.
10 And so I have seen the wicked buried, and they went in, even from the Holy Place they go, and they are forgotten in the city whether they had so done. This also [is] vanity.
Ndipo pia, nikaona waovu wakizikwa, wale ambao walizoea kuingia na kutoka mahali patakatifu na kupewa sifa katika mji ambapo walikuwa wamefanya haya. Hili nalo ni ubatili.
11 Because sentence hath not been done [on] an evil work speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of man is full within them to do evil.
Wakati hukumu juu ya tendo ovu haitekelezwi upesi, mioyo ya watu hujaa mipango ya kutenda maovu.
12 Though a sinner is doing evil a hundred [times], and prolonging [himself] for it, surely also I know that there is good to those fearing God, who fear before Him.
Ingawa mtu mwovu hufanya maovu mia moja na akaendelea kuishi maisha marefu, najua kwamba itakuwa bora zaidi kwa watu wanaomwogopa Mungu, wamchao Mungu.
13 And good is not to the wicked, and he doth not prolong days as a shadow, because he is not fearing before God.
Lakini kwa sababu waovu hawamwogopi Mungu, hawatafanikiwa, maisha yao hayatarefuka kama kivuli.
14 There is a vanity that hath been done upon the earth, that there are righteous ones unto whom it is coming according to the work of the wicked, and there are wicked ones unto whom it is coming according to the work of the righteous. I have said that this also [is] vanity.
Kuna kitu kingine ambacho ni ubatili kinachotokea duniani: Watu waadilifu kupata yale yanayowastahili waovu, nao waovu kupata yale yanayowastahili waadilifu. Hili nalo pia, nasema ni ubatili.
15 And I have praised mirth because there is no good to man under the sun except to eat and to drink, and to rejoice, and it remaineth with him of his labour the days of his life that God hath given to him under the sun.
Kwa hiyo mimi ninasifu kufurahia maisha, kwa sababu hakuna kitu bora zaidi kwa mwanadamu chini ya jua kuliko kula, kunywa na kufurahi. Kisha furaha itafuatana naye kazini mwake siku zote za maisha yake ambazo amepewa na Mungu chini ya jua.
16 When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that hath been done on the earth, (for there is also a spectator in whose eyes sleep is not by day and by night),
Nilipotafakari akilini mwangu ili nijue hekima na kuangalia kazi ya mwanadamu duniani, jinsi ambavyo macho yake hayapati usingizi mchana wala usiku,
17 then I considered all the work of God, that man is not able to find out the work that hath been done under the sun, because though man labour to seek, yet he doth not find; and even though the wise man speak of knowing he is not able to find.
ndipo nikaona yale yote ambayo Mungu ameyafanya. Hakuna yeyote awezaye kuelewa yale yanayotendeka chini ya jua. Licha ya juhudi zake zote za kutafuta, mtu hawezi kugundua maana yake. Hata ingawa mtu mwenye hekima anadai kuwa anafahamu, kwa hakika hawezi kutambua.
