Propovednik 8
1 Ko je kao mudri? i ko zna šta znaèe stvari? Mudrost prosvjetljuje èovjeku lice, a tvrdoæa lica njegova mijenja se.
Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.
2 Ja ti kažem: izvršuj zapovijest carevu, i to zakletve Božije radi.
Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
3 Ne budi brz da otideš ispred njega; ne stoj u zloj stvari, jer æe uèiniti što god hoæe.
Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4 Jer gdje je god rijeè careva ondje je vlast, i ko æe mu reæi: šta radiš?
For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Ko izvršuje zapovijest, neæe znati za zlo, jer srce mudroga zna vrijeme i naèin.
Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
6 Jer svaèemu ima vrijeme i naèin; ali mnoga zla snalaze èovjeka,
For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
7 Što ne zna šta æe biti; jer kad æe što biti, ko æe mu kazati?
Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
8 Èovjek nije vlastan nad duhom da bi ustavio duh, niti ima vlasti nad danom smrtnijem, niti ima obrane u toj borbi; ni bezbožnost ne izbavlja onoga u koga je.
As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 Sve ovo vidjeh, i upravih srce svoje na sve što se radi pod suncem. Katkad vlada èovjek nad èovjekom na zlo njegovo.
All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
10 I tada vidjeh bezbožnike pogrebene, gdje se vratiše; a koji dobro èinjahu otidoše sa svetoga mjesta i biše zaboravljeni u gradu. I to je taština.
Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.
11 Što nema odmah osude za zlo djelo, zato srce sinova ljudskih kipi u njima da èine zlo.
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
12 Neka grješnik sto puta èini zlo i odgaða mu se, ja ipak znam da æe biti dobro onima koji se boje Boga, koji se boje lica njegova.
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
13 A bezbožniku neæe biti dobro, niti æe mu se produljiti dani, nego æe biti kao sjen onome koji se ne boji lica Božijega.
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 Taština je koja biva na zemlji što ima pravednika kojima biva po djelima bezbožnièkim, a ima bezbožnika kojima biva po djelima pravednièkim. Rekoh: i to je taština.
There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.
15 Zato ja hvalih veselje, jer nema ništa bolje èovjeku pod suncem nego da jede i pije i da se veseli; i to mu je od truda njegova za života njegova, koji mu Bog da pod suncem.
So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
16 Kad upravih srce svoje da poznam mudrost i vidim šta se radi na zemlji, te ni danju ni noæu ne dolazi èovjeku san na oèi,
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—
17 Vidjeh na svijem djelima Božijim da èovjek ne može dokuèiti ono što se radi pod suncem, oko èega se trudi èovjek tražeæi, ali ne nalazi, i ako i mudarac reèe da zna, ipak ne može dokuèiti.
I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.
