伝道者の書 3
1 天が下のすべての事には季節があり、すべてのわざには時がある。
There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
2 生るるに時があり、死ぬるに時があり、植えるに時があり、植えたものを抜くに時があり、
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 殺すに時があり、いやすに時があり、こわすに時があり、建てるに時があり、
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 泣くに時があり、笑うに時があり、悲しむに時があり、踊るに時があり、
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 石を投げるに時があり、石を集めるに時があり、抱くに時があり、抱くことをやめるに時があり、
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 捜すに時があり、失うに時があり、保つに時があり、捨てるに時があり、
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 裂くに時があり、縫うに時があり、黙るに時があり、語るに時があり、
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 愛するに時があり、憎むに時があり、戦うに時があり、和らぐに時がある。
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 働く者はその労することにより、なんの益を得るか。
(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 わたしは神が人の子らに与えて、ほねおらせられる仕事を見た。
I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
11 神のなされることは皆その時にかなって美しい。神はまた人の心に永遠を思う思いを授けられた。それでもなお、人は神のなされるわざを初めから終りまで見きわめることはできない。
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 わたしは知っている。人にはその生きながらえている間、楽しく愉快に過ごすよりほかに良い事はない。
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 またすべての人が食い飲みし、そのすべての労苦によって楽しみを得ることは神の賜物である。
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 わたしは知っている。すべて神がなさる事は永遠に変ることがなく、これに加えることも、これから取ることもできない。神がこのようにされるのは、人々が神の前に恐れをもつようになるためである。
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 今あるものは、すでにあったものである。後にあるものも、すでにあったものである。神は追いやられたものを尋ね求められる。
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 わたしはまた、日の下を見たが、さばきを行う所にも不正があり、公義を行う所にも不正がある。
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 わたしは心に言った、「神は正しい者と悪い者とをさばかれる。神はすべての事と、すべてのわざに、時を定められたからである」と。
[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 わたしはまた、人の子らについて心に言った、「神は彼らをためして、彼らに自分たちが獣にすぎないことを悟らせられるのである」と。
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 人の子らに臨むところは獣にも臨むからである。すなわち一様に彼らに臨み、これの死ぬように、彼も死ぬのである。彼らはみな同様の息をもっている。人は獣にまさるところがない。すべてのものは空だからである。
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 みな一つ所に行く。皆ちりから出て、皆ちりに帰る。
[People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
21 だれが知るか、人の子らの霊は上にのぼり、獣の霊は地にくだるかを。
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 それで、わたしは見た、人はその働きによって楽しむにこした事はない。これが彼の分だからである。だれが彼をつれていって、その後の、どうなるかを見させることができようか。
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.
