እግዚአብሔርን ፍራ
1ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤት ስትሄድ እግርህን ጠብቅ። ለመስማት መቅረብ የሰነፎችን መሥዋዕት ከማቅረብ ይበልጣል፤ እነርሱ ክፉ እንደሚሠሩ አያውቁምና።
2በአፍህ አትፍጠን፤
በእግዚአብሔርም ፊት ማንኛውንም ነገር ለመናገር፣
በልብህ አትቸኵል፤
እግዚአብሔር በሰማይ፣
አንተ ደግሞ በምድር ነህ፤
ስለዚህ ቃልህ ጥቂት ይሁን።
3በሥራ ብዛት ሕልም እንደሚታይ፣
ብዙ ቃል ባለበትም የሞኝ ንግግር ይገለጣል።
4ለእግዚአብሔር ስእለትን በተሳልህ ጊዜ ለመፈጸም አትዘግይ፤ በሰነፎች ደስ አይለውምና፤ ስእለትህን ፈጽም። 5ስእለት ተስሎ ካለመፈጸም፣ አለመሳል ይሻላል። 6አንደበትህ ወደ ኀጢአት እንዲመራህ አትፍቀድ፤ ለቤተ መቅደስ መልእክተኛም፣ “የተሳልሁት በስሕተት ነበር” አትበል። እግዚአብሔር በተናገርኸው ተቈጥቶ የእጅህን ሥራ ለምን ያጥፋ? 7ብዙ ሕልምና ብዙ ቃል ከንቱ ነው፤ ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔርን ፍራ።
ባለጠግነት ከንቱ ነው
8በአገር ውስጥ ድኻ ተጨቍኖ፣ ፍትሕ ተጓድሎ፣ መብትም ተረግጦ ብታይ፣ እንደነዚህ ባሉ ነገሮች አትደነቅ፤ ምክንያቱም አንዱን አለቃ የበላዩ ይመለከተዋል፤ በእነዚህ በሁለቱም ላይ ሌሎች ከፍ ያሉ አሉ። 9ከምድሩ የሚገኘው ትርፍ ለሁሉም ነው፤ ንጉሡም ራሱ የሚጠቀመው ከዕርሻ ነው።
10ገንዘብን የሚወድድ፣ ገንዘብ አይበቃውም፤
ብልጽግናም የሚወድድ፣ በትርፉ አይረካም፤
ይህም ከንቱ ነው።
11ሀብት በበዛ ቍጥር፣
ተጠቃሚውም ይበዛል፤
በዐይኑ ብቻ ከማየት በቀር
ታዲያ፣ ለባለቤቱ ምን ይጠቅመዋል?
12ጥቂትም ይሁን ብዙ ቢበላ፣
የሠራተኛ እንቅልፍ ጣፋጭ ነው፤
የሀብታም ሰው ብልጽግና ግን
እንቅልፍ ይነሣዋል።
13ከፀሓይ በታች የሚያሳዝን ክፉ ነገር አየሁ፦
ይህም ለባለቤቱ ጕዳት የተከማቸ ሀብት፣
14ወይም በአንድ መጥፎ አጋጣሚ የጠፋ ብልጽግና ነው፤
ልጅ ሲወልድም፣
ለእርሱ የሚያስቀርለት ምንም ነገር አይኖርም።
15ሰው ከእናቱ ማሕፀን ዕራቍቱን ይወለዳል፤
እንደ መጣው እንዲሁ ይመለሳል።
ከለፋበትም ነገር፣
አንድም እንኳ በእጁ ይዞ ሊሄድ አይችልም።
16ይህ ደግሞ እጅግ ክፉ ነገር ነው፤
ሰው እንደ መጣ እንዲሁ ይሄዳል፤
የሚደክመው ለነፋስ ስለሆነ፣
ትርፉ ምንድን ነው?
17በብዙ ጭንቀት፣ መከራና ብስጭት፣
ዘመኑን ሁሉ በጨለማ ውስጥ ይበላል።
18የሰው ዕጣው ይህ ስለሆነ፣ እግዚአብሔር በሰጠው በጥቂት ዘመኑ ከፀሓይ በታች በሚደክምበት ነገር ርካታን ያገኝ ዘንድ፣ መብላቱና መጠጣቱም መልካምና ተገቢ መሆኑን ተገነዘብሁ። 19እግዚአብሔር ለሰው ባለጠግነትና ሀብት መስጠቱ፣ እንዲደሰትበትም ማስቻሉ፣ ዕጣውን እንዲቀበልና በሥራውም እንዲደሰት ማድረጉ፣ ይህ የእግዚአብሔር ስጦታ ነው። 20እግዚአብሔር የልብ ደስታ ስለሚሰጠውም በሕይወቱ ዘመን ያሉትን ቀናት እምብዛም አያስባቸውም።
Fulfill Your Vow to God
In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:17, and 5:2-20 is numbered 5:1-19. 1Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
2Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
3A dream comes when there are many cares,
and many words mark the speech of a fool.
4When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.
Riches Are Meaningless
8If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
11As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?
12The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.
13I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
15Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
that they can carry in their hands.
16This too is a grievous evil:
As everyone comes, so they depart,
and what do they gain,
since they toil for the wind?
17All their days they eat in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
18This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
