< Pengkhotbah 6 >
1 Kulihat lagi ketidakadilan yang sangat menekan manusia di dunia ini.
I have seen something [else here] on this earth that troubles people.
2 Ada kalanya Allah memberi kekayaan, kehormatan dan harta benda kepada seseorang, sehingga tak ada lagi yang diinginkannya. Tetapi Allah tidak mengizinkan dia menikmati semua pemberian itu. Sebaliknya, orang yang tidak dikenal-Nya akan menikmati kekayaan itu. Jadi, semua itu sia-sia dan menyedihkan.
God enables some people to get a lot of money and possessions and to be honored; they have everything [LIT] that they want. But God [sometimes] does not allow them to continue to enjoy those things. Someone else gets them and enjoys them. That seems senseless and unfair.
3 Walaupun seorang mempunyai seratus anak dan hidup lama sehingga mencapai usia lanjut, tetapi jika ia tidak merasa bahagia dan tidak pula mendapat penguburan yang pantas, maka menurut pendapatku, bayi yang lahir mati lebih baik nasibnya daripada orang itu.
Someone might have 100 children and live for many years. But if he is not able to enjoy the things that he has acquired, and if he is not buried [properly after he dies], [I say that] a child that is dead when it is born is more fortunate.
4 Sebab bagi bayi itu tidak jadi soal apakah ia dilahirkan atau tidak; dia pergi ke dalam kegelapan, lalu segera dilupakan.
That dead baby’s birth is meaningless; it does not even have a name. It goes directly to the place where there is only darkness.
5 Belum pernah ia melihat sinar matahari, dan ia belum juga mengerti apa hidup ini, sehingga ia dapat berbaring dengan tentram.
It does not [live to] see the sun or know anything. But it finds more rest than rich people do [who are alive].
6 Dan itu lebih baik daripada orang yang hidup dua ratus tahun, namun tidak pernah bahagia. Bukankah kedua-duanya pergi ke tempat yang sama juga?
Even if people could live for 2,000 years, if they do not enjoy the things that God gives to them, [it would have been better for them never to have been born]. [All people who live a long time] certainly [RHQ] all go to the same place— [to the grave].
7 Manusia bekerja hanya untuk makan, tetapi ia tidak pernah merasa puas.
People work hard to [earn enough money to buy] food to eat [MTY], but [often] they never get enough to eat.
8 Jadi, apa keuntungan orang arif dibandingkan dengan orang bodoh? Apa pula gunanya jika orang miskin berkelakukan baik di tengah-tengah masyarakat?
So it seems that [RHQ] wise people do not receive more lasting benefits than foolish people do. And it seems that [RHQ] poor people do not benefit from knowing how to conduct their lives.
9 Semua itu sia-sia seperti usaha mengejar angin. Lebih baik kita puas dengan apa yang ada pada kita daripada selalu menginginkan lebih banyak lagi.
It is better to enjoy the things that we already have [MTY] than to constantly want more things; continually wanting more things is [senseless], [like] the wind.
10 Segala sesuatu yang ada, sudah ada sejak lama. Kita tahu bahwa manusia tidak dapat membantah orang yang lebih kuat daripada dia.
All the things that exist [on the earth] have been given names. And everyone knows what people are like, [so] it is useless to argue with someone (OR, with God) who is stronger than we are.
11 Semakin lama ia membantah, semakin tidak berarti kata-katanya, malahan ia tidak mendapat keuntungan apa-apa.
The more [that we] talk, the more [often we say things that are] senseless, so it certainly does not [RHQ] benefit us to talk a lot.
12 Bagaimana orang dapat mengetahui apa yang paling baik baginya di dalam hidupnya yang pendek dan tidak berguna, dan yang lewat seperti bayangan? Bagaimana seorang dapat mengerti apa yang akan terjadi di dunia ini setelah ia tiada?
We live for only a short time; we disappear like [SIM] a shadow disappears [in the sunlight]. No one [RHQ] knows what is best for us while we are alive, and no one [RHQ] knows what will happen to us after we die [EUP].