Pridigar 12

1 Spomni se torej svojega Stvarnika v dneh svoje mladosti, ko niso prišli zli dnevi niti se niso približala leta, ko boš rekel: »V njih nimam veselja, «

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 dokler sonce ali svetloba ali luna ali zvezde ne bodo otemnele niti se oblaki vrnili za dežjem,

[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 na dan, ko bodo čuvaji hiše trepetali in se bodo močni možje sklonili in mlinarji odnehajo, ker jih je malo in tisti, ki gledajo skozi okna, postanejo zatemnjeni

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 in bodo vrata po ulicah zaprta, ko je glas mletja nizek in bo vstal ob ptičjem glasu in bodo ponižane vse hčere petja;

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 tudi ko jih bo strah tega, kar je visoko in bodo strahovi na poti in bo mandljevec cvetel in bo kobilica breme in bo hrepenenje izneverilo; ker človek odhaja k svojemu dolgemu domu in žalovalci gredo po ulicah,

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 ali preden se srebrna vrvica odveže ali zlomi zlata skledica ali lončen vrč razbije ob studencu ali zlomi kolo pri vodnem zbiralniku.

[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 Potem se bo prah vrnil k zemlji, kakor je bil; in duh se bo vrnil k Bogu, ki ga je dal.

Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.

8 »Ničevost ničevosti, « pravi pridigar, »vse je ničevost.«

[So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.

9 In poleg tega, ker je bil pridigar moder, še vedno uči ljudstvo spoznanja. Da, pazil je, poiskal in uredil mnogo pregovorov.

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 Pridigar je iskal, da odkrije sprejemljive besede in to, kar je bilo napisano, je bilo iskreno, celó besede resnice.

I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.

11 Besede modrih so kakor palice z bodicami in kakor žeblji, pritrjeni s pomočjo gospodarjev zborov, ki so izročeni od enega pastirja.

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 Nadalje, moj sin, bodi opomnjen s temi. Pisanju mnogih knjig ni konca in mnogo učenja je utrujenost telesu.

[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 Prisluhnimo zaključku celotne zadeve: »Boj se Boga in se drži njegovih zapovedi, kajti to je vsa človekova dolžnost.

[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 Kajti Bog bo vsako delo privedel na sodbo, z vsako skrivno stvarjo, bodisi je ta dobra, bodisi je ta slaba.«

And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.