< Pengkhotbah 5 >
1 Jagalah langkahmu, kalau engkau berjalan ke rumah Allah! Menghampiri untuk mendengar adalah lebih baik dari pada mempersembahkan korban yang dilakukan oleh orang-orang bodoh, karena mereka tidak tahu, bahwa mereka berbuat jahat.
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 Janganlah terburu-buru dengan mulutmu, dan janganlah hatimu lekas-lekas mengeluarkan perkataan di hadapan Allah, karena Allah ada di sorga dan engkau di bumi; oleh sebab itu, biarlah perkataanmu sedikit.
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 Karena sebagaimana mimpi disebabkan oleh banyak kesibukan, demikian pula percakapan bodoh disebabkan oleh banyak perkataan.
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 Kalau engkau bernazar kepada Allah, janganlah menunda-nunda menepatinya, karena Ia tidak senang kepada orang-orang bodoh. Tepatilah nazarmu.
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 engkau tidak bernazar dari pada bernazar tetapi tidak menepatinya.
It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
6 Janganlah mulutmu membawa engkau ke dalam dosa, dan janganlah berkata di hadapan utusan Allah bahwa engkau khilaf. Apakah perlu Allah menjadi murka atas ucapan-ucapanmu dan merusakkan pekerjaan tanganmu?
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 Karena sebagaimana mimpi banyak, demikian juga perkataan sia-sia banyak. Tetapi takutlah akan Allah.
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 Kalau engkau melihat dalam suatu daerah orang miskin ditindas dan hukum serta keadilan diperkosa, janganlah heran akan perkara itu, karena pejabat tinggi yang satu mengawasi yang lain, begitu pula pejabat-pejabat yang lebih tinggi mengawasi mereka.
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 Suatu keuntungan bagi negara dalam keadaan demikian ialah, kalau rajanya dihormati di daerah itu.
and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
10 Siapa mencintai uang tidak akan puas dengan uang, dan siapa mencintai kekayaan tidak akan puas dengan penghasilannya. Inipun 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 Dengan bertambahnya harta, bertambah pula orang-orang yang menghabiskannya. Dan apakah keuntungan pemiliknya selain dari pada melihatnya?
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 Enak tidurnya orang yang bekerja, baik ia makan sedikit maupun banyak; tetapi kekenyangan orang kaya sekali-kali tidak membiarkan dia tidur.
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 Ada kemalangan yang menyedihkan kulihat di bawah matahari: kekayaan yang disimpan oleh pemiliknya menjadi kecelakaannya sendiri.
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 Dan kekayaan itu binasa oleh kemalangan, sehingga tak ada suatupun padanya untuk 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 Sebagaimana ia keluar dari kandungan ibunya, demikian juga ia akan pergi, telanjang seperti ketika ia datang, dan tak diperolehnya dari jerih payahnya suatupun yang dapat dibawa dalam tangannya.
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 Inipun kemalangan yang menyedihkan. Sebagaimana ia datang, demikianpun ia akan pergi. Dan apakah keuntungan orang tadi yang telah berlelah-lelah menjaring angin?
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 Malah sepanjang umurnya ia berada dalam kegelapan dan kesedihan, mengalami banyak kesusahan, penderitaan dan kekesalan.
[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 Lihatlah, yang kuanggap baik dan tepat ialah, kalau orang makan minum dan bersenang-senang dalam segala usaha yang dilakukan dengan jerih payah di bawah matahari selama hidup yang pendek, yang dikaruniakan Allah kepadanya, sebab itulah bahagiannya.
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 Setiap orang yang dikaruniai Allah kekayaan dan harta benda dan kuasa untuk menikmatinya, untuk menerima bahagiannya, dan untuk bersukacita dalam jerih payahnya--juga itupun karunia 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 Tidak sering ia mengingat umurnya, karena Allah membiarkan dia sibuk dengan kesenangan hatinya.
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.