¹Who 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.

¹Kdo je kakor modrijan? in kdo zna razlago stvari? Modrost razsvetljuje človeku obraz, in trma z lica njegovega izgine.

²I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.

²Jaz ti svetujem: Ukaz kraljev spoštuj, in to z ozirom na prisego Božjo.

³Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.

³Ne prenagli se, da greš izpred obličja njegovega, in ne vtikaj se v hudo reč! Zakaj on stori vse, kar hoče,

⁴Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

⁴ker beseda kraljeva ima moč, in kdo mu more reči: Kaj delaš?

⁵Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.

⁵Kdor izpolnjuje zapoved, se ne ozira na nič hudega; in srce modrega razpoznava čas in pravo sodbo.

⁶Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

⁶Zakaj za vsako početje je čas in sodba; kajti težko obremenja človeka zlo.

⁷For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?

⁷Zakaj on ne ve, kaj se zgodi; ker kdo mu oznani, kako se zgodi?

⁸There 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.

⁸Noben človek ni vladar duhu, da bi zadržal duha; in nihče nima vlade nad dnevom smrti; in v vojski ni nobenega oproščenja; in brezbožnost ne reši tistega, ki ji je vdan.

⁹All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

⁹Vse to sem videl, in obrnil sem srce svoje k vsemu dejanju, ki se godi pod solncem, ob času, ko človek vlada ljudem v njih nesrečo.

¹⁰And 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.

¹⁰In tako sem videl brezbožne, da so jih pokopavali in so prišli v grob; tisti pa, ki so prav ravnali, so morali oditi iz svetega kraja in so jih pozabili v mestu. Tudi to je ničemurnost.

¹¹Because 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.

¹¹Ker se hitro ne izvrši sodni izrek proti hudemu dejanju, zato je srce otrok človeških polno smelosti, da delajo hudo.

¹²Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

¹²Čeprav grešnik stokrat stori hudo in se mu daljšajo dnevi, vendar vem za gotovo, da se bo njim, ki se Boga boje, dobro godilo, ker se ga boje;

¹³But 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.

¹³ali brezbožniku se ne bo dobro godilo, tudi ne podaljša dni svojih, ki so kakor senca, ker se Boga ne boji.

¹⁴There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

¹⁴Je ničemurnost, ki se dogaja na zemlji: da so pravični, katerim se godi po delih brezbožnikov, in so brezbožni, katerim se godi po delih pravičnikov. Rekel sem, da tudi to je ničemurnost.

¹⁵Then 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.

¹⁵Tedaj sem hvalil veselje, ker ni nič boljšega človeku pod solncem, nego da jé in pije in se veseli, in to naj pri njem ostane ob trudu njegovem vse njegove žive dni, kar mu jih je dal Bog pod solncem.

¹⁶When I applied mine 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:)

¹⁶Ko sem obrnil srce svoje v to, da bi spoznaval modrost in ogledoval počenjanje, ki se godi na zemlji (saj tudi ne okusi človek ne po dne, ne po noči spanja s svojimi očmi):tedaj sem videl glede vsega dela Božjega, da človek ne more doumeti dela, ki se godi pod solncem; kakorkoli se napenja, da ga izsledi, ga z umom ne doseže; in čeprav bi modrijan menil, da ga razume, ga vendar ne bo mogel doseči.

¹⁷Then 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 labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

¹⁷tedaj sem videl glede vsega dela Božjega, da človek ne more doumeti dela, ki se godi pod solncem; kakorkoli se napenja, da ga izsledi, ga z umom ne doseže; in čeprav bi modrijan menil, da ga razume, ga vendar ne bo mogel doseči.