Pengkhotbah 5
1 Berhati-hatilah kalau mau pergi ke Rumah TUHAN. Lebih baik pergi ke situ untuk belajar daripada untuk mempersembahkan kurban, seperti yang dilakukan oleh orang-orang bodoh. Mereka itu tidak dapat membedakan mana yang benar dan mana yang salah.
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.
2 Berpikirlah sebelum berbicara, dan jangan terlalu cepat berjanji kepada Allah. Dia ada di surga dan engkau ada di bumi, jadi berhematlah dengan kata-katamu.
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].
3 Makin bercemas, makin besar kemungkinan mendapat mimpi buruk. Makin banyak bicara, makin besar kemungkinan mengeluarkan kata-kata bodoh.
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.
4 Jadi, kalau engkau berjanji kepada Allah, tepatilah secepat mungkin. Dia tidak suka kepada orang yang berlaku bodoh. Sebab itu, tepatilah janjimu.
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.
5 Lebih baik tidak membuat janji daripada berjanji tetapi tidak menepatinya.
It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
6 Janganlah kata-katamu membuat engkau berdosa, sehingga engkau terpaksa mengatakan kepada imam yang melayani TUHAN, bahwa engkau keliru mengucapkan janji. Untuk apa membuat Allah marah kepadamu sehingga dihancurkan-Nya hasil pekerjaanmu?
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.
7 Sebagaimana banyak mimpi itu tidak ada artinya, begitu juga banyak bicara tidak ada gunanya. Tetapi takutlah kepada TUHAN.
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].
8 Jangan heran jika melihat penguasa menindas orang miskin, merampas hak mereka dan tidak memberi mereka keadilan. Setiap pegawai dilindungi oleh atasannya dan keduanya dilindungi oleh pejabat yang lebih tinggi pangkatnya.
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],
9 Bahkan hidup raja pun bergantung dari hasil panen.
and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
10 Orang yang mata duitan, tidak pernah cukup uangnya; orang yang gila harta, tidak pernah puas dengan laba. Semuanya sia-sia.
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.
11 Makin banyak kekayaan seseorang makin banyak orang lain yang harus diberinya makan. Tak ada keuntungan bagi pemiliknya, ia hanya tahu bahwa ia kaya.
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).
12 Seorang pekerja boleh jadi tidak punya cukup makanan, tapi setidak-tidaknya ia bisa tidur nyenyak. Sebaliknya, seorang kaya hartanya begitu banyak, sehingga ia tak bisa tidur karena cemas.
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.
13 Kulihat di dunia ini sesuatu yang menyedihkan: Seorang menimbun harta untuk masa kekurangan.
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,
14 Tetapi harta itu hilang karena suatu kemalangan, sehingga tak ada yang dapat diwariskannya kepada anak-anaknya.
[because] something happens that causes their money to be gone, and when they die, there is no money for their children to get/inherit.
15 Kita lahir dengan telanjang; begitu juga kita tinggalkan dunia ini, tanpa membawa apa-apa dari segala jerih payah kita.
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.
16 Itu sungguh menyedihkan! Kita pergi seperti pada waktu kita sekarang datang. Kita berlelah-lelah untuk mengejar angin, dan apa hasilnya?
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].
17 Selama hidup, kita meraba-raba dalam gelap, kita bersusah-susah, cemas, jengkel dan sakit hati.
[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).
18 Maka mengertilah aku bahwa yang paling baik bagi kita ialah makan, minum dan menikmati hasil kerja kita selama hidup pendek yang diberikan Allah kepada kita; itulah nasib kita.
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.
19 Jika seorang menerima kekayaan dan harta benda dari Allah, dan ia diizinkan menikmati kekayaan itu, haruslah ia merasa bersyukur dan menikmati segala hasil kerjanya. Itu adalah juga pemberian Allah.
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.
20 Allah memenuhi hati orang itu dengan kegembiraan, maka ia tidak cemas memikirkan tentang pendeknya hidup ini.
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.
