UmTshumayeli 8
1 Ngubani onjengohlakaniphileyo? Ngubani-ke owazi ukuchasiswa kolutho? Inhlakanipho yomuntu iyakhanyisa ubuso bakhe, lobulukhuni bobuso bakhe buyaguqulwa.
Who is a wise man? Who knows what the events in life mean? Wisdom in a man causes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 Ngithi: Gcina umlayo wenkosi, lanjengokwesifungo sikaNkulunkulu.
I advise you to obey the king's command because of God's oath to protect him.
3 Ungaphangisi ukusuka phambi kwayo, ungemi edabeni olubi, ngoba yenza konke ekuthandayo.
Do not hurry out of his presence, and do not stand in support of something wrong, for the king does whatever he desires.
4 Lapho okulelizwi lenkosi khona kulamandla; njalo ngubani ongathi kuyo: Wenzani?
The king's word rules, so who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Lowo ogcina umlayo kayikwazi into embi, lenhliziyo yohlakaniphileyo iyasazi isikhathi lokwahlulela.
Whoever keeps the king's commands avoids harm. A wise man's heart recognizes the proper course and time of action.
6 Ngoba kulo lonke udaba kulesikhathi lokwahlulela, ngoba ububi bomuntu bukhulu phezu kwakhe.
For every matter there is a correct response and a time to respond, because the troubles of man are great.
7 Ngoba kakwazi ukuthi kuzakuba yini, ngoba ngubani ongamtshela ukuthi kuzakuba nini?
No one knows what is coming next. Who can tell him what is coming?
8 Kakulamuntu olamandla phezu komoya ukubamba umoya, njalo kalamandla osukwini lokufa; njalo kakukho ukukhululwa kuleyompi, lobubi kabuyikukhulula abaninibo.
No one is ruler over his breath so as to stop the breath, and no one has power over the day of his death. No one is discharged from the army during a battle, and wickedness will not rescue those who are its slaves.
9 Konke lokhu ngikubonile, nganikela inhliziyo yami emsebenzini wonke owenziwa ngaphansi kwelanga; kulesikhathi lapho umuntu abusa khona umuntu kube yikulimala kwakhe.
I have realized all this; I have applied my heart to every kind of work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person oppresses another person to that person's hurt.
10 Ngokunjalo-ke ngabona ababi bengcwatshwa, ababevela njalo baye endaweni engcwele, abasebekhohlakele emzini lapho ababenze khona okunjalo. Lokhu lakho kuyize.
So I saw the wicked buried publicly. They were taken from the holy area and buried and were praised by people in the city where they had done their wicked deeds. This also is uselessness.
11 Ngoba isigwebo ngesenzo esibi singenziwa masinyane, ngenxa yalokho inhliziyo yabantwana babantu igcwele ngaphakathi kwabo ukwenza okubi.
When a sentence against an evil crime is not executed quickly, it entices the hearts of human beings to do evil.
12 Lanxa isoni sisenza okubi izikhathi ezilikhulu, lensuku zaso zelulwe, kube kanti sibili ngiyazi ukuthi kuzabalungela labo abamesabayo uNkulunkulu, abesabayo phambi kwakhe.
Even though a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives a long time, yet I know that it will be better for those who respect God, for those who stand before him and show him respect.
13 Kodwa omubi kakuyikumlungela; futhi kayikwelula insuku zakhe; unjengesithunzi ngoba kesabi phambi kukaNkulunkulu.
But it will not go well for a wicked man; his life will not be prolonged. His days are like a fleeting shadow because he does not honor God.
14 Kukhona okuyize okwenziwayo emhlabeni, ukuthi bakhona abalungileyo abehlelwa njengokomsebenzi wababi, bakhona lababi abehlelwa njengokomsebenzi wabalungileyo. Ngathi: Lokhu lakho kuyize.
There is another useless vapor—something else that is done on the earth. Things happen to righteous people as they happen to wicked people, and things happen to wicked people as they happen to righteous people. I say that this also is useless vapor.
15 Ngakho mina ngababaza intokozo; ngoba umuntu kalalutho oluhle ngaphansi kwelanga, ngaphandle kokudla lokunatha lokuthokoza, ngoba lokhu kuzahlala laye ekutshikatshikeni kwakhe ensukwini zempilo yakhe uNkulunkulu amnike zona ngaphansi kwelanga.
So I recommend happiness, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink and to be happy. It is happiness that will accompany him in his labor for all the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
16 Lapho nganikela inhliziyo ukwazi inhlakanipho lokubona umsebenzi owenziwa emhlabeni, (ngoba futhi ukhona ongaboni ubuthongo ngamehlo akhe emini lebusuku)
When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to understand the work that is done on the earth, work often done without sleep for the eyes at night or in the day,
17 ngasengibona wonke umsebenzi kaNkulunkulu ukuthi umuntu kalakho ukufumana umsebenzi owenziwayo ngaphansi kwelanga; ngoba lanxa umuntu etshikatshika ukukudinga, kube kanti kayikukufumana; yebo futhi, lanxa ohlakaniphileyo angathi uyazi, kayikuba lakho ukukuthola.
then I considered all of God's deeds, and that man cannot understand the work that is done under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to find the answers, he will not find them. Even though a wise man might believe he knows, he really does not.
