Kaikauwhau 6
1 Tera tetahi he i kitea e ahau i raro i te ra, he mea taimaha ano ki runga ki nga tangata:
There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and that frequent among men:
2 He tangata i homai nei e te Atua ki a ia he taonga, he rawa, he kororia, a kihai tona wairua i hapa ki tetahi mea i hiahia ai ia, otiia kihai i tukua e te Atua ki a ia te tikanga mo te kai i tetahi wahi o aua mea, engari kainga ana e te tangata k e. He horihori tenei, he mate kino.
A man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and honour, and his soul wanteth nothing of all that he desireth: yet God doth not give him power to eat thereof, but a stranger shall eat it up. This is vanity and a great misery.
3 Ki te kotahi rau nga tamariki a tetahi tangata, a he maha nga tau e ora ai ia, maha atu nga ra o ona tau, a kahore tona wairua i ngata i te pai, kahore hoki ia e whai tanumanga; e mea ana ahau tera noa atu te pai o te materoto i a ia.
If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and attain to a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his substance, and he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the untimely born is better than he.
4 I haere mai hoki tera i runga i te horihori, a haere atu ana i runga i te pouri, a ka taupokina tona ingoa e te pouri.
For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be wholly forgotten.
5 Kihai hoki ia i kite i te ra, kihai ano i mohio ki a ia; nui atu to tenei okioki i to tera;
He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and evil:
6 Ae, ahakoa kotahi mano topu nga tau i ora ai ia, heoi kahore he pai i kitea e ia. He teka ianei e haere ana te katoa ki te wahi kotahi?
Although he lived two thousand years, and hath not enjoyed good things: do not all make haste to one place?
7 Ko nga mea katoa i mauiui ai te tangata hei mea ano mo tona mangai, otiia e kore tona wairua e makona.
All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be filled.
8 He aha oti ta te tangata whakaaro nui e hira ake ana i ta te wairangi? He aha hoki ta te ware, e mohio nei ki te haere i te aroaro o te hunga ora?
What hath the wise man more than the fool? and what the poor man, but to go thither, where there is life?
9 He pai ke te kite o nga kanohi i te kaipaowe o te hiahia: he horihori ano tenei, a he whai i te hau.
Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that which thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of spirit.
10 Ko nga mea katoa o mua kua oti noa ake te hua ki te ingoa, a e mohiotia ana ko te tangata: e kore hoki ia e tau hei totohe ki te mea e kaha atu ana i a ia.
He that shall be, his name is already called: and it is known, that he is man, and cannot contend in judgment with him that is stronger than himself.
11 Ka maha nei nga mea hei whakanui i te horihori, he aha te painga ki te tangata?
There are many words that have much vanity in disputing.
12 Ko wai hoki e mohio ana he aha te mea pai ki te tangata i a ia nei i te ora, i nga ra katoa o tona oranga horihori, e rite nei ki te atarangi i a ia e mahi nei? Ko wai hoki hei whakaatu ki te tangata ko te aha e puta mai i muri i a ia i raro i t e ra?
What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?
