Ecclesiastes 8
1 The wisdom of a man shineth in his countenance, and the most mighty will change his face.
Tko je kao mudrac? Tko još umije tumačiti stvari? Mudrost čovjeku razvedruje lice i mijenja njegov namršteni lik.
2 I observe the mouth of the king, and the commandments of the oath of God.
Zato velim: slušaj kraljevu zapovijed zbog Božje zakletve.
3 Be not hasty to depart from his face, and do not continue in an evil work: for he will do all that pleaseth him:
Ne nagli da je prekršiš: ne budi tvrdoglav kad razlog nije dobar, jer on čini kako mu odgovara.
4 And his word is full of power: neither can any man say to him: Why dost thou so?
Jer kraljeva je riječ najjača, i tko ga smije pitati: “Što činiš?”
5 He that keepeth the commandments shall find no evil. The heart of a wise man understandeth time and answer.
Tko se drži zapovijedi, ne poznaje nevolju, i mudrac zna za vrijeme i sud.
6 There is a time and opportunity for every business, and great affliction for man:
Jer postoji vrijeme i sud za sve, i čovjeka veoma tereti nedjelo njegovo
7 Because he is ignorant of things past, and things to come he cannot know by any messenger.
jer on ne zna što će biti; a tko mu može kazati kad će što biti?
8 It is not in man’s power to stop the spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death, neither is he suffered to rest when war is at hand, neither shall wickedness save the wicked.
Vjetar nitko ne može svladati, niti gospodariti nad danom smrtnim, niti ima odgode u ratu; niti opačina izbavlja onoga koji je čini.
9 All these things I have considered, and applied my heart to all the works that are done under the sun. Sometimes 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 I saw the wicked buried: who also when they were yet living were in the holy place, and were praised in the city as men of just works: but this also is 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 For because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear.
Kad nema brze osude za zlo djelo, ljudsko je srce sklono činiti zlo.
12 But though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and by patience be borne withal, I know from thence that it shall be well with them that fear God, who dread his face.
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 let it not be well with the wicked, neither let his days be prolonged, but as a shadow let them pass away that fear not the face of the Lord.
Ali opak čovjek neće biti sretan i neće produljivati svoje dane ni kao sjena jer se ne boji Boga.
14 There is also another vanity, which is done upon the earth. There are just men to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of the wicked: and there are wicked men, who are as secure, as though they had the deeds of the just: but this also I judge most vain.
Ali je na zemlji ispraznost te pravednike stiže sudbina opakih, a opake sudbina pravednika. Velim: i to je ispraznost.
15 Therefore I commended mirth, because there was no good for a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry, and that he should take nothing else with him of his labour in the days of his life, which God hath given 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 And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to understand the distraction that is upon earth: for there are some that day and night take no sleep with their eyes.
Poslije svih napora da dokučim mudrost, pokušah spoznati što se radi na zemlji. Uistinu, čovjek ne nalazi spokojstva ni danju ni noću.
17 And I understood that man can find no reason of all those works of God that are done under the sun: and the more he shall labour to seek, so much the less shall he find: yea, though the wise man shall say, that he knoweth it, he shall 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.
