1Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 2While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: 3In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,12.3 the grinders…: or, the grinders fail, because they grind little 4And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; 5Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
8¶ Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. 9And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.12.9 moreover…: or, the more wise the preacher was, etc 10The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.12.10 acceptable…: Heb. words of delight 11The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.12.12 study: or, reading
13¶ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.12.13 Let…: or, The end of the matter, even all that hath been heard, is 14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
1የጭንቀት ጊዜ ሳይመጣ፣
“ደስ አያሰኙኝም”
የምትላቸው ዓመታት ሳይደርሱ፣
በወጣትነትህ ጊዜ፣ ፈጣሪህን ዐስብ።
2ፀሓይና ብርሃን፣
ጨረቃና ከዋክብት ሳይጨልሙ፣
ደመናትም ከዝናብ በኋላ ሳይመለሱ፣
3ቤት ጠባቂዎች ሲርዱ፣
ብርቱዎች ሲጐብጡ፣
ጥቂት በመሆናቸው ፈጪታዎች ሲያቆሙ፣
በመስኮት የሚያዩትም ሲፈዝዙ፣
4ወደ አደባባይ የሚያወጡ በሮች ሲዘጉ፣
ወፍጮ ሟልጦ ድምፁ ሲላሽ፣
ሰው በወፍ ድምፅ ሲነሣ፣
ዝማሬው ሁሉ ሲዳከም፤
5ዳገት መውጣት ሲያርድ፣
መንገድም ሲያስፈራ፣
የለውዝ ዛፍ ሲያብብ፣
አንበጣም ራሱን ሲጐትት፣
ፍላጎት ሲጠፋ፤
በዚያም ጊዜ ሰው ወደ ዘላለማዊ ቤቱ ይሄዳል፤
አልቃሾችም በአደባባዮች ይዞራሉ።
6የብር ሰንሰለት ሳይበጠስ፣
የወርቅ ሳሕንም ሳይሰበር፣
የውሃ መቅጃው በምንጩ አጠገብ ሳይከሰከስ፣
ወይም መንኰራኵሩ በውሃ ጕድጓድ ላይ ሳይሰበር፣
7ዐፈር ወደ መጣበት መሬት ሳይመለስ፣
መንፈስም ወደ ሰጠው ወደ እግዚአብሔር ሳይመለስ፣
ፈጣሪህን ዐስብ።
8ሰባኪው12፥8 ወይም የጉባኤ መሪ እንዲሁም በ9 እና 10 “ከንቱ ከንቱ
ሁሉም ነገር ከንቱ ነው!” ይላል።
የነገሩ ፍጻሜ
9ሰባኪው ጥበበኛ ብቻ አልነበረም፤ ነገር ግን ለሕዝቡ ዕውቀትንም ያስተምር ነበር። እርሱም በጥልቅ ዐሰበ፤ ተመራመረም፤ ብዙ ምሳሌዎችንም በሥርዐት አዘጋጀ። 10ሰባኪው ትክክለኛውን ቃል ለማግኘት ተመራመረ፤ የጻፈውም ቅንና እውነት ነበረ።
11የጠቢባን ቃላት እንደ ሹል የከብት መንጃ ናቸው፤ የተሰበሰቡ አባባሎቹም እጅግ ተቀብቅበው እንደ ገቡ ችንካሮች ሲሆኑ፣ ከአንድ እረኛ የተሰጡ ናቸው። 12ልጄ ሆይ፤ ከዚህ ሁሉ በላይ በማንኛውም ነገር ተጠንቀቅ፤ አንዳችም አትጨምር።
ብዙ መጻሕፍትን መጻፍ ማብቂያ የለውም፤ ብዙ ማጥናትም ሰውነትን ያደክማል።
13እነሆ፤ ሁሉ ነገር ከተሰማ ዘንድ፣
የነገሩ ሁሉ ድምዳሜ ይህ ነው፤
እግዚአብሔርን ፍራ፤ ትእዛዞቹንም ጠብቅ፤
ይህ የሰው ሁለንተናዊ ተግባሩ ነውና።
14መልካምም ይሁን ክፉ፣
ስውር የሆነውን ነገር ሁሉ አንድ ሳይቀር፣
ማንኛውንም ሥራ እግዚአብሔር ወደ ፍርድ ያመጣዋልና።
