Propovednik 1
1 Rijeèi propovjednika sina Davidova cara u Jerusalimu.
Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
2 Taština nad taštinama, veli propovjednik, taština nad taštinama, sve je taština.
“Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
3 Kaka je korist èovjeku od svega truda njegova, kojim se trudi pod suncem?
What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
4 Naraštaj jedan odlazi i drugi dolazi, a zemlja stoji uvijek.
People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
5 Sunce izlazi i zalazi, i opet hiti na mjesto svoje odakle izlazi.
The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
6 Vjetar ide na jug i obræe se na sjever: ide jednako obræuæi se, i u obrtanju svom vraæa se.
The wind blows south, and then turns to the north. Round and round it spins, finally coming full circle.
7 Sve rijeke teku u more, i more se ne prepunja; odakle teku rijeke, onamo se vraæaju da opet teku.
Streams all flow into the sea, but the sea never becomes full. The streams return to the place from where they came.
8 Sve je muèno, da èovjek ne može iskazati; oko se ne može nagledati, niti se uho može naslušati.
Everything just keeps on going. You can't say all there is to say. You can't see all there is to see. You can't hear all there is to hear.
9 Što je bilo to æe biti, što se èinilo to æe se èiniti, i nema ništa novo pod suncem.
Everything that was will continue to be; everything that has been done will be done again. Nothing new ever happens here.
10 Ima li što za što bi ko rekao: vidi, to je novo? Veæ je bilo za vijekova koji su bili prije nas.
There's nothing anyone can point to and say, “Look! Here's something new.” In fact it's been around for ages, long before our time.
11 Ne pominje se što je prije bilo; ni ono što æe poslije biti neæe se pominjati u onijeh koji æe poslije nastati.
The problem is we don't remember people from the past, and people in the future won't remember those who came before them.
12 Ja propovjednik bijah car nad Izrailjem u Jerusalimu;
I am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem.
13 I upravih srce svoje da tražim i razberem mudrošæu sve što biva pod nebom; taj muèni posao dade Bog sinovima ljudskim da se muèe oko njega.
I decided to focus my mind to explore, using wisdom, everything that happens here on earth. This is a tough assignment that God has given people to keep them busy!
14 Vidjeh sve što biva pod suncem, i gle, sve je taština i muka duhu.
I examined everything people do here on earth, and discovered that it's all so temporary—trying to understand it is like trying to pin down the wind!
15 Što je krivo ne može se ispraviti, i nedostaci ne mogu se izbrojiti.
You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
16 Ja rekoh u srcu svom govoreæi: evo, ja postah velik, i pretekoh mudrošæu sve koji biše prije mene u Jerusalimu, i srce moje vidje mnogo mudrosti i znanja.
I thought to myself, “I've become very wise, wiser than all the kings of Jerusalem before me. My mind has gained a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 I upravih srce svoje da poznam mudrost i da poznam bezumlje i ludost; pa doznah da je i to muka duhu.
So I decided to use my mind to learn everything about wisdom, and madness and foolishness as well. But I found out that this is as hard as trying to catch hold of the wind.
18 Jer gdje je mnogo mudrosti, mnogo je brige, i ko umnožava znanje, umnožava muku.
For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
