Mhubiri 8
1 Ni mtu gani mwenye hekima? Ambaye anafahamu matukio yana maana gani katika maisha? Hekima ndani ya mtu husababisha uso wake kung'ara, na ugumu wa uso wake hubadilika.
Who [is] as the wise [man]? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
2 Ninakushauri kuitii amri ya mfalme kwa sababu ya kiapo cha Mungu cha kumlinda yeye.
I [counsel thee] to keep the king's commandment, and [that] in regard of the oath of God.
3 Usiharakishe kuondoka mbele ya uwepo wake, na usisimame kuunga mkono jambo lisilofaa, kwa kuwa mfalme anafanya chochote anacho tamani.
Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatever pleaseth him.
4 Neno la mfalme hutawala, kwa hiyo ni nani atakaye mwambia, 'Unafanya nini?
Where the word of a king [is], [there is] power: and who may say to him, what doest thou?
5 Yeyote ashikaye amri za mfalme hukwepa madhara. Moyo wa mwenye hekima hutambua mwelekeo muafaka na muda wa kuenda.
He who keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
6 Kwa kuwa kila jambo lina jibu sahihi, na wakati wa kujibu, kwa sababu taabu ya mtu ni kubwa.
Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him.
7 Hakuna anaye fahamu kinacho fuata. Ni nani awezaye kumwambia nini kinacho kuja?
For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
8 Hakuna mwenye uwezo juu ya roho aizuie roho; wala hana mamlaka juu ya siku ya kufa; wala hakuna kuruhusiwa katika vita vile; wala uovu hautamwokoa yule aliyeuzoea.
[There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
9 Mambo hayo yote nimeyaona, nikatia moyo wangu katika kila kazi iliyofanyika chini ya jua. Kuna wakati ambapo mtu mmoja anayo mamlaka juu ya mwenziwe kwa hasira yake.
All this have I seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time in which one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
10 Hivyo niliwaona wabaya wakizikwa hadharani. Waliondolewa mahali patakatifu na kuzikwa mahali waliposifiwa na watu katika mji walipokuwa wamefanya matendo maovu. Hii nayo haifai.
And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this [is] also vanity.
11 Wakati hukumu dhidi ya tendo ovu haihukumiwi haraka, hushawishi mioyo ya wanadamu kutenda ubaya.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 Hata kama mwenye dhambi afanye uovu mara mia moja na bado aishi kwa muda mrefu, bado ninafahamu itakuwa vyema kwa wale wanao muheshimu Mungu, wanaouheshimu uwepo wake walio nao.
Though a sinner doeth evil a hundred times, and his [days] are prolonged, yet surely I know that it will be well with them that fear God, who fear before him:
13 Lakini haitakuwa vyema kwa mtu mwovu; mkewe hatacheleweshwa. Siku zake kama kizuri kitowekacho upesi, kwa sababu hamuheshimu Mungu.
But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
14 Kuna mvuke mwingine usio faa, jambo jingine linaofanyika juu ya dunia. Mambo hutokea kwa watu wenye haki kama yatokeavyo kwa watu waovu, na mambo hutokea kwa wenye haki kama yatokeavyo kwa waovu. Ninasema hili pia ni mvuke usiofaa.
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are just [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also [is] vanity.
15 Kwa hiyo nikapendekeza furaha, kwa sababu mtu hana jambo bora chini ya jua zaidi ya kula na kunywa na kuwa na furaha. furaha ndiyo itamfuata katika kazi zake kwa siku zote za maisha yake ambayo Mungu amempa chini ya jua.
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
16 Nikauweka moyo wangu kufamu hekima na kufahamu kazi inayofanyika juu ya nchi, kazi ambayo inafanyika mara nyingi pasipo kufumba macho usiku au mchana.
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also [there is that] neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes: )
17 Kisha nika tafakari matendo yote ya Mungu, na kwamba mtu hawezi kuelewa kazi inayofanyika chini ya jua. Bila kujali mtu anafanya kupata majibu, hatayapata. Ingawa mwenye hekima anaweza kuamini anajua, kitu kweli hajui.
Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man may labor to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; yes further; though a wise [man] thinketh to know [it], yet shall he not be able to find [it].
