¹Godt Navn er bedre end ypperlig Salve, Dødsdag bedre end Fødselsdag;

¹Better [is] a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth.

²bedre at gå til et Sørgehus end at gå til et Gildehus; thi hist er alle Menneskers Ende, og de levende bør tage det til Hjerte

²Better to go unto a house of mourning, Than to go unto a house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men, And the living layeth [it] unto his heart.

³Bedre Græmmelse end Latter, thi er Minerne mørke, har Hjertet det godt.

³Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becometh better.

⁴De vises Hjerte er i Sørgehuset. Tåbernes Hjerte i Glædeshuset.

⁴The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.

⁵Bedre at høre på Vismands Skænd end at høre på Tåbers Sang.

⁵Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than [for] a man to hear a song of fools,

⁶Som Tjørnekvistes Knitren under Gryden er Tåbers Latter; også det er Tomhed.

⁶For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So [is] the laughter of a fool, even this [is] vanity.

⁷Thi uredelig Vinding gør Vismand til Dåre, og Stikpenge ødelægger Hjertet.

⁷Surely oppression maketh the wise mad, And a gift destroyeth the heart.

⁸En Sags Udgang er bedre end dens Indgang, Tålmod er bedre end Hovmod.

⁸Better [is] the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better [is] the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit.

⁹Vær ikke hastig i dit Sind til at græmmes, thi Græmmelse bor i Tåbers Bryst.

⁹Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools resteth.

¹⁰Spørg ikke: "Hvoraf kommer det, at de gamle Dage var bedre end vore?" Thi således spørger du ikke med Visdom.

¹⁰Say not thou, `What was it, That the former days were better than these?` For thou hast not asked wisely of this.

¹¹Bedre er Visdom end Arv, en Fordel for dem, som skuer Solen;

¹¹Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance, And an advantage [it is] to those beholding the sun.

¹²thi Visdom skygger, som Penge skygger, men Kundskabs Fortrin er dette, at Visdom holder sin Mand i Live.

¹²For wisdom [is] a defense, money [is] a defence, And the advantage of the knowledge of wisdom [is], She reviveth her possessors.

¹³Se på Guds Værk! Hvo kan rette, hvad han har gjort kroget?

¹³See the work of God, For who is able to make straight that which He made crooked?

¹⁴Vær ved godt Mod på den gode Dag og indse på den onde Dag, at Gud skabte denne såvel som hin, for at Mennesket ikke skal finde noget efter sig.

¹⁴In a day of prosperity be in gladness, And in a day of evil consider. Also this over-against that hath God made, To the intent that man doth not find anything after him.

¹⁵Begge Dele så jeg i mine tomme Dage: Der er retfærdige, som omkommer i deres Retfærdighed, og der er gudløse, som lever længe i deres Ondskab.

¹⁵The whole I have considered in the days of my vanity. There is a righteous one perishing in his righteousness, and there is a wrong-doer prolonging [himself] in his wrong.

¹⁶Vær ikke alt for retfærdig og te dig ikke overvættes viis; hvorfor vil du ødelægge dig selv?

¹⁶Be not over-righteous, nor show thyself too wise, why art thou desolate?

¹⁷Vær ikke alt for gudløs og vær ingen Dåre; hvorfor vil du dø i Utide?

¹⁷Do not much wrong, neither be thou a fool, why dost thou die within thy time?

¹⁸Det bedste er, at du fastholder det ene og ikke slipper det andet; thi den, der frygter Gud, vil undgå begge Farer.

¹⁸[It is] good that thou dost lay hold on this, and also, from that withdrawest not thy hand, for whoso is fearing God goeth out with them all.

¹⁹Visdom gør Vismand stærkere end ti Magthavere i Byen.

¹⁹The wisdom giveth strength to a wise man, more than wealth the rulers who have been in a city.

²⁰Thi intet Menneske er så retfærdigt på Jorden, at han kun gør gode Gerninger og aldrig synder.

²⁰Because there is not a righteous man on earth that doth good and sinneth not.

²¹Giv ikke Agt på alle de Ord, Folk siger, at du ikke skal høre din Træl forbande dig;

²¹Also to all the words that they speak give not thy heart, that thou hear not thy servant reviling thee.

²²thi du ved med dig selv, at også du mange Gange har forbandet andre.

²²For many times also hath thy heart known that thou thyself also hast reviled others.

²³Alt dette ransagede jeg med Visdom; jeg tænkte: "Jeg vil vorde viis." Men Visdom holdt sig langt fra mig;

²³All this I have tried by wisdom; I have said, `I am wise,` and it [is] far from me.

²⁴Tingenes Grund er langt borte, så dyb, så dyb; hvem kan finde den?

²⁴Far off [is] that which hath been, and deep, deep, who doth find it?

²⁵Jeg tog mig for at vende min Hu til Kundskab og Granskning og til at søge efter Visdom og sikker Viden og til at kende, at Gudløshed er Tåbelighed, Dårskab Vanvid.

²⁵I have turned round, also my heart, to know and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and reason, and to know the wrong of folly, and of foolishness the madness.

²⁶Og beskere end Døden fandt jeg Kvinden, thi hun er et Fangegarn; hendes Hjerfe er et Net og hendes Arme Lænker. Den, som er Gud kær, undslipper hende, men Synderen bliver hendes Fange.

²⁶And I am finding more bitter than death, the woman whose heart [is] nets and snares, her hands [are] bands; the good before God escapeth from her, but the sinner is captured by her.

²⁷Se, det fandt jeg ud, sagde Prædikeren, ved at lægge det ene til det andet for at drage min Slutning.

²⁷See, this I have found, said the Preacher, one to one, to find out the reason

²⁸Hvad min Sjæl stadig søgte, men ikke fandt, er dette: Een Mand fandt jeg blandt tusind, men en Kvinde fandt jeg ikke i hele Flokken.

²⁸(that still my soul had sought, and I had not found), One man, a teacher, I have found, and a woman among all these I have not found.

²⁹Dog se, det fandt jeg, at Gud har skabt Menneskene, som de bør være; men de har så mange sære Ting for.

²⁹See, this alone I have found, that God made man upright, and they — they have sought out many devices.