Mhubiri 6
1 Nimeona ubaya mwingine chini ya jua, nao unalemea sana wanadamu:
I have seen something [else here] on this earth that troubles people.
2 Mungu humpa mwanadamu utajiri, mali na heshima, hivyo hakukosa chochote moyo wake unachokitamani. Lakini Mungu hamwezeshi kuvifurahia, badala yake mgeni ndiye anayevifurahia. Hili ni ubatili, ni ubaya unaosikitisha.
God enables some people to get a lot of money and possessions and to be honored; they have everything [LIT] that they want. But God [sometimes] does not allow them to continue to enjoy those things. Someone else gets them and enjoys them. That seems senseless and unfair.
3 Mtu anaweza kuwa na watoto mia moja naye akaishi miaka mingi, lakini haidhuru kuwa ataishi muda mrefu kiasi gani, kama hawezi kufurahia mafanikio yake na kwamba hapati mazishi ya heshima, ninasema afadhali mtoto aliyezaliwa akiwa amekufa kuliko yeye.
Someone might have 100 children and live for many years. But if he is not able to enjoy the things that he has acquired, and if he is not buried [properly after he dies], [I say that] a child that is dead when it is born is more fortunate.
4 Kuzaliwa kwake hakuna maana, huondokea gizani na gizani jina lake hufunikwa.
That dead baby’s birth is meaningless; it does not even have a name. It goes directly to the place where there is only darkness.
5 Ingawa hakuwahi kuliona jua wala kujua kitu chochote, yeye ana pumziko zaidi kuliko mtu huyo,
It does not [live to] see the sun or know anything. But it finds more rest than rich people do [who are alive].
6 Hata kama huyo mtu ataishi miaka elfu mara mbili na zaidi, lakini akashindwa kufurahia mafanikio yake, je, wote hawaendi sehemu moja?
Even if people could live for 2,000 years, if they do not enjoy the things that God gives to them, [it would have been better for them never to have been born]. [All people who live a long time] certainly [RHQ] all go to the same place— [to the grave].
7 Juhudi zote za binadamu ni kwa ajili ya kinywa chake, hata hivyo hamu yake kamwe haitoshelezwi.
People work hard to [earn enough money to buy] food to eat [MTY], but [often] they never get enough to eat.
8 Mtu mwenye hekima ana faida gani zaidi ya mpumbavu? Mtu maskini anapata faida gani kwa kujua jinsi ya kujistahi mbele ya watu wengine?
So it seems that [RHQ] wise people do not receive more lasting benefits than foolish people do. And it seems that [RHQ] poor people do not benefit from knowing how to conduct their lives.
9 Ni bora kile ambacho jicho linakiona kuliko hamu isiyotoshelezwa. Hili nalo ni ubatili, ni kukimbiza upepo.
It is better to enjoy the things that we already have [MTY] than to constantly want more things; continually wanting more things is [senseless], [like] the wind.
10 Lolote lililopo limekwisha kupewa jina, naye mwanadamu alivyo ameshajulikana; hakuna mtu awezaye kushindana na mwenye nguvu kuliko yeye.
All the things that exist [on the earth] have been given names. And everyone knows what people are like, [so] it is useless to argue with someone (OR, with God) who is stronger than we are.
11 Maneno yanavyokuwa mengi, ndivyo yanavyokosa maana, Je, hilo linamfaidia vipi yeyote?
The more [that we] talk, the more [often we say things that are] senseless, so it certainly does not [RHQ] benefit us to talk a lot.
12 Kwa maana ni nani anayejua lililo jema kwa ajili ya maisha ya mwanadamu, katika siku chache na za ubatili anazopita kama kivuli? Ni nani awezaye kumwambia yatakayotokea chini ya jua baada ya yeye kuondoka?
We live for only a short time; we disappear like [SIM] a shadow disappears [in the sunlight]. No one [RHQ] knows what is best for us while we are alive, and no one [RHQ] knows what will happen to us after we die [EUP].
