Ecclesiastes 8
1 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.
Tko je kao mudrac? Tko još umije tumačiti stvari? Mudrost čovjeku razvedruje lice i mijenja njegov namršteni lik.
2 I [counsel thee] to keep the king's commandment, and [that] in regard of the oath of God.
Zato velim: slušaj kraljevu zapovijed zbog Božje zakletve.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatever pleaseth him.
Ne nagli da je prekršiš: ne budi tvrdoglav kad razlog nije dobar, jer on čini kako mu odgovara.
4 Where the word of a king [is], [there is] power: and who may say to him, what doest thou?
Jer kraljeva je riječ najjača, i tko ga smije pitati: “Što činiš?”
5 He who keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
Tko se drži zapovijedi, ne poznaje nevolju, i mudrac zna za vrijeme i sud.
6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him.
Jer postoji vrijeme i sud za sve, i čovjeka veoma tereti nedjelo njegovo
7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
jer on ne zna što će biti; a tko mu može kazati kad će što biti?
8 [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.
Vjetar nitko ne može svladati, niti gospodariti nad danom smrtnim, niti ima odgode u ratu; niti opačina izbavlja onoga koji je čini.
9 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.
Sve ovo vidjeh pazeći na sve što se čini pod suncem, kad čovjek vlada nad čovjekom na njegovu nesreću.
10 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.
Dalje vidjeh kako opake nose na groblje, i ljudi iz svetog mjesta izlaze da ih slave zbog toga što su tako činili. I to je ispraznost.
11 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.
Kad nema brze osude za zlo djelo, ljudsko je srce sklono činiti zlo.
12 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:
I grešnik koji čini zlo i sto puta, dugo živi. Ja ipak znam da će biti sretni oni koji se boje Boga jer ga se boje.
13 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.
Ali opak čovjek neće biti sretan i neće produljivati svoje dane ni kao sjena jer se ne boji Boga.
14 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.
Ali je na zemlji ispraznost te pravednike stiže sudbina opakih, a opake sudbina pravednika. Velim: i to je ispraznost.
15 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.
Zato slavim veselje, jer nema čovjeku sreće pod suncem nego u jelu, pilu i nasladi. I to neka ga prati u njegovoj muci za života koji mu Bog dade pod suncem.
16 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: )
Poslije svih napora da dokučim mudrost, pokušah spoznati što se radi na zemlji. Uistinu, čovjek ne nalazi spokojstva ni danju ni noću.
17 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].
Promatram cjelokupno djelo Božje: i odista - nitko ne može dokučiti ono što se zbiva pod suncem. Jer ma koliko se čovjek trudio da otkrije, nikad ne može otkriti. Pa ni mudrac to ne može otkriti, iako misli da zna.
