Kohelethu 3
1 Atĩrĩrĩ, o ũndũ nĩ ũrĩ ihinda rĩaguo, na o ũndũ o wothe wĩkagwo gũkũ thĩ nĩ ũrĩ mahinda maguo:
There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
2 kũrĩ hĩndĩ ya gũciarwo na hĩndĩ ya gũkua, hĩndĩ ya kũhaanda na hĩndĩ ya kũmunya kĩrĩa kĩhaande,
There is a time to be born, and there is a time to die. There is a time to plant [seeds], and there is a time to harvest crops.
3 hĩndĩ ya kũũraga na hĩndĩ ya kũhonia, hĩndĩ ya gũtharia na hĩndĩ ya gwaka,
There is a time to kill [people], and there is a time to heal [people]. There is a time to tear things down, and there is a time to build things.
4 hĩndĩ ya kũrĩra na hĩndĩ ya gũtheka, hĩndĩ ya gũcakaya na hĩndĩ ya kũina,
There is a time to cry, and there is a time to laugh. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to dance [joyfully].
5 hĩndĩ ya kũhurunja mahiga na hĩndĩ ya kũmacookanĩrĩria, hĩndĩ ya kũhĩmbĩria na hĩndĩ ya kwaga kũhĩmbĩria,
There is a time to throw away stones [from a field], and there is a time to gather stones [to build walls/houses]. There is a time to embrace [people], and there is a time to not embrace [people].
6 hĩndĩ ya gũcaria na hĩndĩ ya kũũrĩrwo nĩ indo, hĩndĩ ya kũiga, na hĩndĩ ya gũte,
There is a time to search for things, and there is a time to stop searching for things. There is a time to keep/save things, and there is a time to throw things away.
7 hĩndĩ ya gũtembũra na hĩndĩ ya gũtuma, hĩndĩ ya gũkira na hĩndĩ ya kwaria,
There is a time to tear [our old clothes], and there is a time to mend [clothes]. There is a time to say nothing, and there is a time when we should speak.
8 hĩndĩ ya kwenda na hĩndĩ ya gũthũũra, hĩndĩ ya mbaara na hĩndĩ ya thayũ.
There is a time when we should love [things that people do], and there is a time when we should hate [things that people do]. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.
9 Mũruti wa wĩra-rĩ, nĩ uumithio ũrĩkũ oonaga harĩ gwĩtungumania gwake?
(What do people gain from all the work that they do?/It seems that people gain very little from all the work that they do [RHQ]).
10 Nĩnyonete mathĩĩna marĩa Ngai aheete andũ nĩguo mathĩĩnĩkage nĩ mo.
I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
11 Ngai oombire kĩndũ o gĩothe kĩrĩ gĩthaka hĩndĩ yakĩo. Ningĩ nĩekĩrĩte ũhoro wa tene na tene ngoro-inĩ cia andũ; no andũ matingĩhota kũmenya wĩra ũrĩa Ngai arutĩte kuuma kĩambĩrĩria nginya kĩrĩkĩrĩro.
God has appointed a time that is right/correct for everything to happen. He has [also] caused people to realize that there are things that will endure forever. But in spite of that, no one can completely understand everything that God has done, from the time that he starts doing things until he finishes them.
12 Nĩnjũũĩ atĩ gũtirĩ ũndũ ũngĩ mwega andũ mangĩĩka ũkĩrĩte gũkena na gwĩka maũndũ mega rĩrĩa rĩothe megũtũũra muoyo.
I know that the best [LIT] thing for us people to do is to rejoice and to do good things [all] during the time that we are alive.
13 O na ningĩ ngamenya atĩ mũndũ o wothe angĩrĩa na anyue, na akenere gwĩtungumania gwake, kĩu nĩ kĩheo kuuma kũrĩ Ngai.
And I also know that everyone should eat and drink, and enjoy the work that they do. Those are things that God gives to us.
14 Nĩnjũũĩ atĩ ũndũ ũrĩa wothe Ngai ekaga nĩ wagũtũũra nginya tene; ndũngĩongerereka kana ũnyihanyiihe. Ngai awĩkaga nĩgeetha andũ mamwĩtigagĩre.
I [also] know that what God does endures forever. No one can add to what God does, and no one can take away from the things that God does. God does those things in order that people would revere him.
15 Ũrĩa gũtariĩ rĩu noguo gwatariĩ tene, na ũrĩa gũgaatuĩka thuutha-inĩ noguo gwatariĩ mbere ĩyo; nake Ngai acaragia atĩ ũndũ ũrĩa wahĩtũkire ũcooke o ro ho.
Things that exist now have already existed previously, and things that will happen in the future have already happened previously; God causes the same things to happen many times.
16 O na ningĩ ngĩona ũndũ ũngĩ gũkũ thĩ kwaraga riũa: Handũ harĩa haatuuagĩrwo ciira-rĩ, waganu warĩ ho, na ho handũ harĩa ha kĩhooto-rĩ, waganu warĩ ho.
Furthermore, I saw that on this earth [MTY], even in the courts where we expect judges to make right decisions about what people had done, they did many wicked [DOU] things.
17 Ngĩĩra atĩrĩ na ngoro yakwa, “Ngai nĩwe ũgaaciirithia andũ arĩa athingu na arĩa aaganu, tondũ nĩgũgakorwo ihinda rĩa o ũndũ o wothe wĩkagwo gũkũ thĩ, o na ihinda rĩa wĩra o wothe.”
[So] I said to myself [SYN], “God will judge [both] righteous [people] and wicked [people]; there is a time [for him to do that], because there is a time for him to do everything.”
18 Ningĩ ngĩĩciiria atĩrĩ, “Ha ũhoro wa andũ-rĩ, Ngai amageragia nĩgeetha mone atĩ mahaana o ta nyamũ.
And regarding humans, I [also] said to myself, “God is testing us, to show us that [in one way] people are no different than animals,
19 Maũndũ marĩa makoraga mũndũ no mo makoraga nyamũ; mũndũ na nyamũ makoragwo nĩ ũndũ o ro ũmwe: O ta ũrĩa mũndũ akuuaga, noguo nyamũ ĩkuaga. Mĩhũmũ ya mũndũ na nyamũ no ĩmwe; mũndũ ndarĩ handũ akĩrĩte nyamũ. Ũndũ o wothe nĩ wa tũhũ.
because what happens to people happens to animals. Animals die, and people die. We all must breathe [to remain alive]. [With regard to that], people have no advantage over animals, so I have a difficult time understanding that.
20 Mũndũ na nyamũ mathiiaga o kũndũ kũmwe; othe moimĩte tĩĩri-inĩ, na othe macookaga o tĩĩri-inĩ.
[People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
21 Nũũ ũũĩ kana hihi roho wa mũndũ wambataga na igũrũ, naguo roho wa nyamũ ũgaikũrũka na thĩ?”
No one knows [RHQ] for sure that when we die, our souls/spirits go up to heaven and the souls/spirits of animals go down to the place where the dead are.”
22 Nĩ ũndũ ũcio ngĩona atĩ hatirĩ ũndũ mwega harĩ mũndũ ũkĩrĩte gũkenera wĩra wake, tondũ rĩu nĩrĩo igai rĩake. Nĩ ũndũ-rĩ, nũũ ũngĩmũcookia rĩngĩ nĩguo one ũrĩa gũgeekĩka thuutha wake?
So I concluded that the best thing for [us] people to do is to be happy about the work that we do, because that is what God has given to us. I say that because no one of us [RHQ] knows what happens to us after we die.
