Ecclesiastes 6

I vidjeh: ima još jedno zlo pod suncem i teško tišti ljude.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

Nekomu Bog udijeli bogatstvo i blago i počasti te ima sve što mu duša poželi, ali mu ne udijeli da to i uživa, nego uživa tuđinac. To je ispraznost i grdna nevolja.

A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

I velim: bolje je nedonošče od onoga koji bi rodio stotinu djece i živio mnogo godina, a sam se ne bi naužio dobra niti bi imao pogreba;

If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

jer je nedonošče uzalud došlo i u tamu otišlo i ime mu je tamom pokriveno;

For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

sunca čak ne vidje niti spozna - a spokojnije je od onoga.

Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

Pa kad bi takav živio i dvije tisuće godina, a svojeg dobra ne bi uživao, zar ne odlaze obojica jednako na isto mjesto?

Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

Čovjek se trudi samo da bi jeo, a želudac njegov nikad da se nasiti.

All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

Jer po čemu je mudrac bolji od luđaka i što reći o siromahu koji se umije držati pred ljudima?

For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?

Bolje je očima vidjeti nego duhom lutati. I to je ispraznost i pusta tlapnja.

Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

Što je već bilo, ime ima; i zna se što je čovjek; i on se ne može parbiti s jačim od sebe.

That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.

Što više riječi, to veća ispraznost svega, i koja je od toga korist čovjeku?

Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

Tko zna što je dobro čovjeku u životu njegovu, za ono malo dana koje tako isprazno živi, koji mu prolaze kao sjena? Tko će kazati čovjeku što će biti poslije njega pod suncem?

For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?