Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
Ni nani aliye kama mtu mwenye hekima? Ni nani ajuaye maelezo ya mambo? Hekima hungʼarisha uso wa mtu na kubadili ugumu wa uso wake.
2 I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to God.
Nawaambia, Tii amri ya mfalme, kwa sababu uliapa mbele za Mungu.
3 Don’t be hasty to go out of his presence. Don’t persist in an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him,
Usiharakishe kuondoka mbele ya mfalme. Usiendelee kutenda lililo baya, kwa maana mfalme atafanya lolote apendalo.
4 for the king’s word is supreme. Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Kwa kuwa neno la mfalme ndilo lenye mamlaka ya mwisho, nani awezaye kumwambia, “Je, wewe unafanya nini?”
5 Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure.
Yeyote anayetii agizo lake hatadhurika, moyo wa hekima utajua wakati muafaka na jinsi ya kutenda.
6 For there is a time and procedure for every purpose, although the misery of man is heavy on him.
Kwa maana kuna wakati muafaka na utaratibu wa kila jambo, ingawa huzuni ya mwanadamu huwa nzito juu yake.
7 For he doesn’t know that which will be; for who can tell him how it will be?
Kwa vile hakuna mtu ajuaye siku zijazo, ni nani awezaye kumwambia linalokuja?
8 There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practise it.
Hakuna mwanadamu awezaye kushikilia roho yake asife, wala hakuna mwenye uwezo juu ya siku ya kufa kwake. Kama vile hakuna yeyote arudishwaye nyuma wakati wa vita, kadhalika uovu hautawaweka huru wale wautendao.
9 All this I have seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.
Yote haya niliyaona, nilipokuwa natafakari kila kitu kinachotendeka chini ya jua. Kuna wakati ambapo mtu hujifanya bwana juu ya wengine kwa madhara yake mwenyewe.
10 So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is vanity.
Ndipo pia, nikaona waovu wakizikwa, wale ambao walizoea kuingia na kutoka mahali patakatifu na kupewa sifa katika mji ambapo walikuwa wamefanya haya. Hili nalo ni ubatili.
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 juu ya tendo ovu haitekelezwi upesi, mioyo ya watu hujaa mipango ya kutenda maovu.
12 Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.
Ingawa mtu mwovu hufanya maovu mia moja na akaendelea kuishi maisha marefu, najua kwamba itakuwa bora zaidi kwa watu wanaomwogopa Mungu, wamchao Mungu.
13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow, because he doesn’t fear God.
Lakini kwa sababu waovu hawamwogopi Mungu, hawatafanikiwa, maisha yao hayatarefuka kama kivuli.
14 There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked. Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
Kuna kitu kingine ambacho ni ubatili kinachotokea duniani: Watu waadilifu kupata yale yanayowastahili waovu, nao waovu kupata yale yanayowastahili waadilifu. Hili nalo pia, nasema ni ubatili.
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labour all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
Kwa hiyo mimi ninasifu kufurahia maisha, kwa sababu hakuna kitu bora zaidi kwa mwanadamu chini ya jua kuliko kula, kunywa na kufurahi. Kisha furaha itafuatana naye kazini mwake siku zote za maisha yake ambazo amepewa na Mungu chini ya jua.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night),
Nilipotafakari akilini mwangu ili nijue hekima na kuangalia kazi ya mwanadamu duniani, jinsi ambavyo macho yake hayapati usingizi mchana wala usiku,
17 then I saw all the work of God, that man can’t find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labours to seek it out, yet he won’t find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won’t be able to find it.
ndipo nikaona yale yote ambayo Mungu ameyafanya. Hakuna yeyote awezaye kuelewa yale yanayotendeka chini ya jua. Licha ya juhudi zake zote za kutafuta, mtu hawezi kugundua maana yake. Hata ingawa mtu mwenye hekima anadai kuwa anafahamu, kwa hakika hawezi kutambua.
