Pridigar 12

1 Spomni se torej svojega Stvarnika v dneh svoje mladosti, ko niso prišli zli dnevi niti se niso približala leta, ko boš rekel: »V njih nimam veselja, «

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

2 dokler sonce ali svetloba ali luna ali zvezde ne bodo otemnele niti se oblaki vrnili za dežjem,

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

3 na dan, ko bodo čuvaji hiše trepetali in se bodo močni možje sklonili in mlinarji odnehajo, ker jih je malo in tisti, ki gledajo skozi okna, postanejo zatemnjeni

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

4 in bodo vrata po ulicah zaprta, ko je glas mletja nizek in bo vstal ob ptičjem glasu in bodo ponižane vse hčere petja;

And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

5 tudi ko jih bo strah tega, kar je visoko in bodo strahovi na poti in bo mandljevec cvetel in bo kobilica breme in bo hrepenenje izneverilo; ker človek odhaja k svojemu dolgemu domu in žalovalci gredo po ulicah,

Also [when] they shall be afraid of [that which is] high, and fears [shall be] in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

6 ali preden se srebrna vrvica odveže ali zlomi zlata skledica ali lončen vrč razbije ob studencu ali zlomi kolo pri vodnem zbiralniku.

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

7 Potem se bo prah vrnil k zemlji, kakor je bil; in duh se bo vrnil k Bogu, ki ga je dal.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

8 »Ničevost ničevosti, « pravi pridigar, »vse je ničevost.«

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all [is] vanity.

9 In poleg tega, ker je bil pridigar moder, še vedno uči ljudstvo spoznanja. Da, pazil je, poiskal in uredil mnogo pregovorov.

And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, [and] set in order many proverbs.

10 Pridigar je iskal, da odkrije sprejemljive besede in to, kar je bilo napisano, je bilo iskreno, celó besede resnice.

The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and [that which was] written [was] upright, [even] words of truth.

11 Besede modrih so kakor palice z bodicami in kakor žeblji, pritrjeni s pomočjo gospodarjev zborov, ki so izročeni od enega pastirja.

The words of the wise [are] as goads, and as nails fastened [by] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from one shepherd.

12 Nadalje, moj sin, bodi opomnjen s temi. Pisanju mnogih knjig ni konca in mnogo učenja je utrujenost telesu.

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh.

13 Prisluhnimo zaključku celotne zadeve: »Boj se Boga in se drži njegovih zapovedi, kajti to je vsa človekova dolžnost.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.

14 Kajti Bog bo vsako delo privedel na sodbo, z vsako skrivno stvarjo, bodisi je ta dobra, bodisi je ta slaba.«

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.