A Common Destiny for All
1So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad. the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.
3This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4Anyone who is among the living has hope9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
5For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
6Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.
7Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
11I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Wisdom Better Than Folly
13I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.
17The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.
Mathero a Zinthu Zonse ndi Wofanana
1Ndinalingalira zonse ndanenazi ndipo ndinapeza kuti anthu olungama ndi anthu anzeru ali mʼmanja mwa Mulungu pamodzi ndi zimene amachita, koma palibe amene amadziwa zimene zikumudikira mʼtsogolo mwake, kaya chikondi kapena chidani. 2Onsewa mathero awo ndi amodzi, anthu olungama ndi anthu oyipa, abwino ndi oyipa, oyera ndi odetsedwa, amene amapereka nsembe ndi amene sapereka nsembe.
Zomwe zimachitikira munthu wabwino,
zimachitikiranso munthu wochimwa,
zomwe zimachitikira amene amalumbira,
zimachitikiranso amene amaopa kulumbira.
3Choyipa chimene chili mʼzonse zochitika pansi ndi ichi: Mathero a zonse ndi amodzi. Ndithu, mitima ya anthu ndi yodzaza ndi zoyipa, ndipo mʼmitima mwawo muli zamisala pamene ali ndi moyo, potsiriza pake iwo amakakhala pamodzi ndi anthu akufa. 4Aliyense amene ali ndi moyo amakhala ndi chiyembekezo, pajatu galu wamoyo aposa mkango wakufa!
5Pakuti amoyo amadziwa kuti adzafa,
koma akufa sadziwa kanthu;
alibe mphotho ina yowonjezera,
ndipo palibe amene amawakumbukira.
6Chikondi chawo, chidani chawo
ndiponso nsanje yawo, zonse zinatha kalekale;
sadzakhalanso ndi gawo
pa zonse zochitika pansi pano.
7Pita, kadye chakudya chako mokondwera ndi kumwa vinyo wako ndi mtima wosangalala, pakuti tsopano Mulungu akukondwera ndi zochita zako. 8Uzivala zovala zoyera nthawi zonse, uzidzola mafuta mʼmutu mwako nthawi zonse. 9Uzikondwerera moyo pamodzi ndi mkazi wako amene umamukonda, masiku onse a moyo uno wopanda phindu, amene Mulungu wakupatsa pansi pano. Pakuti mkaziyo ndiye gawo la moyo wako pa ntchito yako yolemetsa pansi pano. 10Ntchito iliyonse imene ukuyigwira, uyigwire ndi mphamvu zako zonse, pakuti ku manda kumene ukupita kulibe kugwira ntchito, kulibe malingaliro, chidziwitso ndiponso nzeru.
11Ine ndinaonanso chinthu china pansi pano:
opambana pa kuthamanga si aliwiro,
kapena opambana pa nkhondo si amphamvu,
ndiponso okhala ndi chakudya si anzeru,
kapena okhala ndi chuma si odziwa zambiri,
kapena okomeredwa mtima si ophunzira;
koma mwayi umangowagwera onsewa pa nthawi yake.
12Kungoti palibe munthu amene amadziwa kuti nthawi yake idzafika liti:
monga momwe nsomba zimagwidwira mu ukonde,
kapena mmene mbalame zimakodwera mu msampha,
chimodzimodzinso anthu amakodwa mu msampha pa nthawi yoyipa,
pamene tsoka limawagwera mosayembekezera.
Nzeru Iposa Uchitsiru
13Ine ndinaonanso pansi pano chitsanzo ichi cha nzeru chimene chinandikhudza kwambiri: 14Panali mzinda waungʼono umene unali ndi anthu owerengeka. Ndipo mfumu yamphamvu inabwera kudzawuthira nkhondo, inawuzungulira ndi kumanga mitumbira yankhondo. 15Tsono mu mzindamo munali munthu wosauka koma wanzeru, ndipo anapulumutsa mzindawo ndi nzeru zakezo. Koma palibe amene anakumbukira munthu wosaukayo. 16Choncho ine ndinati, “Nzeru ndi yopambana mphamvu.” Koma nzeru ya munthu wosauka imanyozedwa, ndipo palibe amene amalabadirako za mawu ake.
17Mawu oyankhula mofatsa a munthu wanzeru, anthu amawasamalira kwambiri
kupambana kufuwula kwa mfumu ya zitsiru.
18Nzeru ndi yabwino kupambana zida zankhondo,
koma wochimwa mmodzi amawononga zinthu zambiri zabwino.
