1Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.
1Pazi na nogo svojo, kadar greš v hišo Božjo! Kajti bližati se, da poslušaš, je bolje nego darovati bedakov daritve; nimajo namreč spoznanja, da delajo hudo.
2Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
2Ne bodi nagel s svojimi usti in srcu svojemu ne daj hiteti, da izreče besedo pred Bogom; zakaj Bog je v nebesih, ti pa si na zemlji: zato bodi tvojih besed malo.
3For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words.
3Kajti sanje prihajajo po mnogem trudu in bedak se oglaša z mnogimi besedami.
4When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.
4Kadar storiš obljubo Bogu, je ne odlašaj izpolniti; kajti Njemu ne ugajajo bedaki. Kar obljubiš, izpolni!
5It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.
5Bolje, da ne obljubiš, nego da obljubiš, a ne izpolniš.
6Don’t allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don’t protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?
6Ne dopusti ustom svojim, da v greh zapeljejo meso tvoje, in ne govóri pred poslancem Božjim: Bila je pomota! Čemu naj bi se jezil Bog nad glasom tvojim in uničil rok tvojih delo?
7For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words: but you must fear God.
7Zakaj pri mnogih sanjah in besedah je tudi mnogo ničemurnosti. Le Boga se boj!
8If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don’t marvel at the matter: for one official is eyed by a higher one; and there are officials over them.
8Kadar vidiš, da stiskajo uboge ter da siloma dero sodbo in pravičnost v deželi, ne čudi se tej reči; kajti visok čuva nad visokim, a nad njima je še višji.
9Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.
9A kralj, ki služi poljedelstvu, je vsekakor deželi v prid.
10He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.
10Kdor ljubi srebro, ne bo nikoli srebra sit, in kdor ljubi bogastvo, ne dobi nikdar dosti. Tudi to je ničemurnost.
11When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?
11Ko se množi imovina, se množe tudi tisti, ki jo uživajo; in kakšen užitek ima posestnik, nego da jo z očmi gleda?
12The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
12Delavcu je spanje sladko, če je jedel veliko ali malo; bogatinu pa sitost ne da mirno spati.
13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.
13Je hudo zlo, ki sem ga videl pod solncem: bogastvo, ki si ga hrani njega posestnik sebi v nesrečo.
14Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand.
14Ker tako bogastvo se izgubi po zli nezgodi, in sinu, ki ga je rodil, ga ne ostane nič v roki.
15As he came forth from his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.
15Kakor je prišel nag iz telesa matere svoje, prav tako zopet odide in za trud svoj ne vzame še kaj malega ne, kar bi v roki odnesel s seboj.
16This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
16Pa tudi to je hudo zlo, da mora oditi prav tako, kakor je prišel; in kaj ima dobička od tega, da se trudi za veter?
17All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.
17Vrhutega mora vse svoje dni jesti v temi in ima dosti nejevolje, bolezni in jeze.
18Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.
18Glej, kar sem spoznal za dobro in za lepo: da človek jé in pije in uživa dobro pri vsem trudu svojem, s katerim se trudi pod solncem, vse dni svojega življenja, kar mu jih je Bog dal; kajti to je delež njegov.
19Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
19Saj vsakemu človeku, ki mu je Bog dal bogastvo in zaklade in ga je pooblastil, da to uživa in vzame delež svoj in se veseli pri trudu svojem, prav to je dar Božji.Kajti ne bo se veliko spominjal dni življenja svojega; ker mu Bog odgovarja v veselju srca njegovega.
20For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
20Kajti ne bo se veliko spominjal dni življenja svojega; ker mu Bog odgovarja v veselju srca njegovega.