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.
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.
2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
Ninakushauri kuitii amri ya mfalme kwa sababu ya kiapo cha Mungu cha kumlinda yeye.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatever pleaseth him.
Usiharakishe kuondoka mbele ya uwepo wake, na usisimame kuunga mkono jambo lisilofaa, kwa kuwa mfalme anafanya chochote anacho tamani.
4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say to him, What doest thou?
Neno la mfalme hutawala, kwa hiyo ni nani atakaye mwambia, 'Unafanya nini?
5 He who keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.
Yeyote ashikaye amri za mfalme hukwepa madhara. Moyo wa mwenye hekima hutambua mwelekeo muafaka na muda wa kuenda.
6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
Kwa kuwa kila jambo lina jibu sahihi, na wakati wa kujibu, kwa sababu taabu ya mtu ni kubwa.
7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
Hakuna anaye fahamu kinacho fuata. Ni nani awezaye kumwambia nini kinacho kuja?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hivyo niliwaona wabaya wakizikwa hadharani. Waliondolewa mahali patakatifu na kuzikwa mahali waliposifiwa na watu katika mji walipokuwa wamefanya matendo maovu. Hii nayo haifai.
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.
Wakati hukumu dhidi ya tendo ovu haihukumiwi haraka, hushawishi mioyo ya wanadamu kutenda ubaya.
12 Though a sinner doeth evil an hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, who fear before him:
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.
13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
Lakini haitakuwa vyema kwa mtu mwovu; mkewe hatacheleweshwa. Siku zake kama kizuri kitowekacho upesi, kwa sababu hamuheshimu Mungu.
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.
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.
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 labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
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.
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: )
Nikauweka moyo wangu kufamu hekima na kufahamu kazi inayofanyika juu ya nchi, kazi ambayo inafanyika mara nyingi pasipo kufumba macho usiku au mchana.
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 labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man thinketh to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
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.
