< Pridigar 6 >
1 Je zlo, ki sem ga videl pod soncem in to je pogosto med ljudmi.
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:
2 Človek, ki mu je Bog dal bogastva, premoženje in čast, tako da za svojo dušo ne potrebuje ničesar od vsega, kar si želi, pa mu vendar Bog ne daje moči, da od tega jé, temveč to jé tujec. To je ničevost in to je zla bolezen.
A man to whom Elohim hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet Elohim giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 Če človek zaplodi sto otrok in živi mnogo let, tako da je dni njegovih let mnogo in njegova duša ne bo nasičena z dobrinami in tudi da nima pogreba, pravim, da je prezgodaj rojeni boljši kakor on.
If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
4 Kajti vstopa z ničevostjo in odhaja v temi in njegovo ime bo prekrito s temo.
For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
5 Poleg tega ni videl sonca niti ni poznal nobene stvari; ta ima več počitka kakor drugi.
Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.
6 Da, čeprav je bilo rečeno, da živi dvakrat tisoč let, vendar ni videl dobrega; mar ne gredo vsi na en kraj?
Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
7 Vse človekovo delo je za njegova usta, pa vendar apetit ni potešen.
All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8 Kajti kaj ima modri več kakor bedak? Kaj ima ubogi, da zna hoditi pred živečimi?
For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
9 Boljši je pogled oči kakor tavanje poželenja. Tudi to je ničevost in draženje duha.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
10 To, kar je bilo, je že imenovano in je znano, da je to človek; niti se ne more pričkati s tistim, ki je mogočnejši kakor on.
That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.
11 Ker je tukaj mnogo stvari, ki povečujejo ničevost, kaj je človek boljši?
Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
12 Kajti kdo ve kaj je boljše za človeka v tem življenju, vse dni njegovega praznega življenja, ki jih preživlja kakor senca? Kajti kdo lahko človeku pove kaj bo za njim pod soncem?
For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?