Predikaren 12
1 Tänk uppå din Skapare i dinom ungdom, förr än de onda dagar komma, och åran nalkas, då du varder sägandes: De behaga mig intet;
While you are still young, keep thinking about [God], who created you. Do that before [you are old] and you experience many troubles, during the years when you say “I no [longer] enjoy being alive.”
2 Förr än solen och ljuset, månen och stjernorna mörka varda, och molnen igenkomma efter regn;
[When you become old], the light from the sun and moon and stars will [seem] dim [to you], and [it will seem that the rain] clouds [always] return [quickly] after it rains.
3 På den tid, då väktarena i huset darra, och de starke kröka sig, och mölnarena stå fåfänge, derföre att de så få vordne äro; och synen varder mörk genom fenstren;
Then your [arms that you use to protect] [MET] your bodies will shake/tremble, and your [legs that support] [MET] your bodies will become weak. Many of your [teeth that you use to] grind/chew [your food] will fall out, and your [eyes that you use to] look out of windows will not see clearly.
4 Och dörrarna på gatone tillslutna varda, så att rösten af qvarnene tystnar, och uppvaknar när foglen sjunger, och sångsens döttrar varda nedertryckta;
Your [ears] [MET] will not hear the noise in the streets, and you will not be able to hear clearly the sound of people grinding grain with millstones. You will be awakened in the morning by hearing the birds singing/chirping, [but] you will not be able to hear well the songs that (the birds/people) sing.
5 Så att de ock för höjderna frukta sig, och rädas på vägen; när mandelträt blomstras, och gräshoppan förtynges, och all lust förgås; ty menniskan far dit hon evinnerliga blifva skall; och de som gråta, gå omkring på gatone;
You will be afraid to be in high places and afraid of dangers on the roads that you walk on. [Your hair] will become [white like] [MET] the flowers of almond trees. [When you try to walk], you will drag yourself along like [MET] grasshoppers, and you will no longer desire [to have sex]. Then you will [die and] go to your eternal home, and people who will mourn for you will be in the streets.
6 Förrän silftåget bortkommer, och guldkällan utlöper, och ämbaret gistnar vid brunnen, och hjulet söndergår vid brunnen.
[Think much about God now, because] soon our lives will end, [like] [MET] silver chains or golden bowls that break easily, or like pitchers/jugs that are broken at the water fountain, or like broken pulleys at a well.
7 Ty stoftet måste åter komma till jord igen, såsom det varit hafver, och anden till Gud igen, den honom gifvit hafver.
Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
8 Allt är fåfängelighet, sade Predikaren; allt är fåfängelighet.
[So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
9 Den samme Predikaren var icke allenast vis; utan han lärde ock folket god lärdom, och märkte, och utransakade, och sammansatte mång ordspråk.
I was considered to be a very wise man, and I taught the people many things. I assembled/collected and wrote down many proverbs, and I carefully thought about and studied them.
10 Predikaren sökte, att han måtte finna tacknämlig ord, och skref rätt sanningenes ord.
I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
11 Denna de visas ord äro spjut och naglar, skrefne genom församlingenes mästare, och gifne af enom herda.
The things that [I and other] wise people say [teach people what they should do]; they are like [SIM] (goads/sharp sticks that people use to strike animals to direct where they should go). They are like [SIM] nails that stick out of pieces of wood. They are given to us by [God, who is like] [MET] our shepherd.
12 Tag dig vara, min son, för andra flere; ty ingen ände är uppå att dikta böcker, och mycken predikan gör kroppen trött.
[So], my son, pay careful attention to what I have written, and choose carefully what you read that others have written, [because] writing proverbs/books is endless, and [trying to] study them all will cause you to become exhausted.
13 Låt oss höra hufvudsummona till all lärdom: Frukta Gud, och håll hans bud; ty det hörer allom menniskom till.
[Now] you have heard all [that I have told you], and here is the conclusion: Revere God, and obey his commandments, because those commandments summarize everything that people should do.
14 Ty Gud skall hafva fram alla gerningar för domen; ja, ock de der fördolda äro, ehvad de äro goda eller onda.
And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
