Ɔsɛnkafoɔ 3
1 Biribiara wɔ ne berɛ, na dwumadie biara a ɛwɔ ɔsoro ase wɔ ne berɛ.
Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here:
2 Awoɔ wɔ ne berɛ, na owuo wɔ ne berɛ, ogu wɔ ne berɛ, na otwa nso wɔ ne berɛ,
A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest.
3 ɔkum wɔ ne berɛ, na ayaresa wɔ ne berɛ, ɔbubu wɔ ne berɛ, na ɔsi nso wɔ ne berɛ,
A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building up.
4 agyaadwotwa wɔ ne berɛ, na ɔsereɛ nso wɔ ne berɛ, awerɛhoɔ wɔ ne berɛ, na asa wɔ ne berɛ,
A time of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing.
5 aboɔ hweteɛ wɔ ne berɛ, na aboɔ anoboa wɔ ne berɛ, akwaaba wɔ ne berɛ, na nanteyie wɔ ne berɛ,
A time of throwing away stones, and a time of gathering up stones. A time of embracing, and a time of avoiding embracing.
6 adehwehwɛ wɔ ne berɛ, na adehwereɛ wɔ ne berɛ, adekora wɔ ne berɛ, na adetoguo wɔ ne berɛ,
A time of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away.
7 adeɛ mu sunsuane wɔ ne berɛ, na ne pempam wɔ ne berɛ, kommyɛ wɔ ne berɛ, na kasa wɔ ne berɛ,
A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up.
8 ɔdɔ wɔ ne berɛ, na ɔtan wɔ ne berɛ, ɔko wɔ ne berɛ, na asomdwoeɛ wɔ ne berɛ.
A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace.
9 Mfasoɔ bɛn na odwumayɛfoɔ nya firi nʼadwumaden mu?
So what do you get for all your hard work?
10 Mahunu adesoa a Onyankopɔn de ato nnipa so.
I have examined what God gives us to do.
11 Wayɛ biribiara fɛfɛ wɔ ne berɛ mu. Ɔde nkwa a ɛnsa da ahyɛ nnipa akoma mu, nanso wɔntumi nte deɛ Onyankopɔn ayɛ firi ahyɛaseɛ kɔsi awieeɛ no ase.
Everything God does is beautifully timed, and even though he has also placed the idea of eternity in our minds, we can't fully understand what God does from beginning to end.
12 Menim sɛ biribiara nni hɔ a ɛyɛ ma nnipa kyɛn sɛ wɔbɛgye wɔn ani na wayɛ deɛ ɛyɛ ɛberɛ a wɔte ase.
I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in life.
13 Sɛ obiara bɛdidi na wanom na wanya anigyeɛ wɔ ne dwumadie nyinaa mu, yei ne Onyankopɔn akyɛdeɛ.
In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us.
14 Menim sɛ biribiara a Onyankopɔn yɛ no bɛtena hɔ daa, wɔrentumi mfa biribi nka ho na wɔrentumi nyi biribi mfiri mu. Onyankopɔn yɛ yei sɛdeɛ nnipa de anidie bɛma no.
I also concluded that everything God does lasts forever: nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts in this way so that people may stand in awe of him.
15 Biribiara a ɛwɔ hɔ ɛnnɛ no, aba pɛn, na deɛ ɛbɛba no nso aba dada; na Onyankopɔn bɛfrɛ deɛ asi dada no ama akontabuo.
Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.
16 Na mehunuu biribi foforɔ wɔ owia yi ase sɛ: Amumuyɛsɛm wɔ deɛ atemmuo wɔ, atɛnteneneebea no, amumuyɛsɛm wɔ hɔ.
I also observed that here on earth there was evil even in the place where there was supposed to be justice; even where things were meant to be right, there was evil.
17 Medwenee wɔ mʼakomam sɛ, “Onyankopɔn bɛbu teneneefoɔ ne amumuyɛfoɔ nyinaa atɛn, ɛfiri sɛ adwuma biara bɛnya ne berɛ, adeyɛ biara ne ne berɛ.”
But then I thought to myself, “Ultimately God will judge both those who do right and those who do wrong, and every deed and action, at the appointed time.”
18 Afei medwenee sɛ, “Nnipa deɛ, Onyankopɔn sɔ wɔn hwɛ ma wɔhunu sɛ wɔte sɛ mmoa.
I also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than animals.”
19 Onipa hyɛberɛ te sɛ mmoa deɛ, na ɛda hɔ ma wɔn nyinaa. Sɛdeɛ ɔbaako wuo no, saa ara na ɔfoforɔ nso wuo. Wɔn nyinaa wɔ ahomeɛ baako; onipa nni biribi a ɔde kyɛn aboa. Biribiara yɛ ahuhudeɛ.
For what happens to human beings is the same as what happens to animals—in the same way one dies, the other dies too. They all have the breath of life—so regarding any advantage human beings have over animals, there is none. Definitely this is very hard to understand!
20 Wɔn nyinaa kɔ faako; wɔn nyinaa firi dɔteɛ mu na wɔsane kɔ dɔteɛ mu.
They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.
21 Hwan na ɔnim sɛ onipa honhom foro soro, na aboa deɛ siane kɔ asase mu anaa?”
Who really knows whether the breath of life of human beings goes up above, and the breath of life of animals goes down below to the earth?
22 Enti mehunuu sɛ biribiara nni hɔ a ɛyɛ ma onipa kyɛn sɛ nʼani bɛka nʼadwuma ho, ɛfiri sɛ ɛno ne ne kyɛfa. Na hwan na ɔbɛtumi de no asane aba sɛ ɔmmɛhwɛ deɛ ɛbɛsi ne wuo nʼakyi?
So I concluded that there's nothing better than for people to enjoy their work. This is what we are meant to do. For who can bring anyone back from the dead to show them what will happen after they die?
