< UmTshumayeli 6 >
1 Kukhona ububi esengibubonile ngaphansi kwelanga, njalo buvamile ebantwini:
I have seen something [else here] on this earth that troubles people.
2 Umuntu uNkulunkulu amnike inotho lengcebo lodumo ukuze angasweleli umphefumulo wakhe ulutho kukho konke akufisayo, kodwa uNkulunkulu angamniki amandla ukuthi adle kukho, kodwa owemzini uyakudla; lokhu kuyize, njalo kuyisifo esibi.
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 Uba umuntu ezala abantwana abalikhulu, aphile iminyaka eminengi, ukuze insuku zeminyaka yakhe zibe zinengi, kodwa umphefumulo wakhe ungasuthiswa ngokuhle, futhi angabi lakungcwatshwa, ngithi umphunzo ungcono kulaye.
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 Ngoba uza ngeze, uye emnyameni, lebizo lawo lisitshekelwe emnyameni;
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 futhi kawulibonanga ilanga, kawulalwazi; lo ulokuphumula kulaye.
It does not [live to] see the sun or know anything. But it finds more rest than rich people do [who are alive].
6 Yebo, lanxa ephila iminyaka eyinkulungwane, ephindwe kabili, kanti engabonanga okuhle; bonke kabayi yini endaweni eyodwa?
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 Wonke umtshikatshika womuntu ngowomlomo wakhe, kube kanti inkanuko kayisuthi.
People work hard to [earn enough money to buy] food to eat [MTY], but [often] they never get enough to eat.
8 Ngoba ohlakaniphileyo ulani okwedlula isithutha? Ulani umyanga owazi ukuhamba phambi kwabaphilayo?
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 Kungcono ukubona kwamehlo kulokuzulazula kwenkanuko. Lokhu lakho kuyize lokukhathazeka komoya.
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 Osekukhona sekuke kwathiwa ibizo lakho, njalo kuyaziwa ukuthi kungumuntu, lokuthi kalakho ukuphikisana lolamandla kulaye.
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 Ngoba zinengi izinto ezandisa ize; kuyinzuzo bani emuntwini?
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 Ngoba ngubani okwaziyo okulungele umuntu empilweni, enanini lensuku zempilo yakhe eyize ayichitha njengesithunzi? Ngoba ngubani ongatshela umuntu lokho okuzakuba khona emva kwakhe ngaphansi kwelanga?
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].