Thoughts about Life
1 A good reputation is better than expensive perfume; and the day you die is better than the day you are born.
2 It is better to go to a home where there is mourning than to one where there is a party, because the living should always remind themselves that death is waiting for us all.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter; it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding.
4 Someone who is always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person thinks about death.
5 It is better to have wise people reprimand you than to have stupid people sing your praises.
6 When a fool laughs, it is like thorns crackling in a fire. It doesn't mean a thing.
7 You may be wise, but if you cheat someone, you are acting like a fool. If you take a bribe, you ruin your character.
8 The end of something is better than its beginning.
Patience is better than pride.
9 Keep your temper under control; it is foolish to harbor a grudge.
10 Never ask, “Oh, why were things so much better in the old days?” It's not an intelligent question.
11 Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance 12 and will give you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe—this is the advantage of knowledge.
13 Think about what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked? 14 When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next.
15 My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Some good people may die while others live on, even though they are evil. 16 So don't be too good or too wise—why kill yourself? 17 But don't be too wicked or too foolish, either—why die before you have to? 18 Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway.
19 Wisdom does more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city.
20 There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.
21 Don't pay attention to everything people say—you may hear your servant insulting you, 22 and you know yourself that you have insulted other people many times.
23 I used my wisdom to test all of this. I was determined to be wise, but it was beyond me. 24 How can anyone discover what life means? It is too deep for us, too hard to understand. 25 But I devoted myself to knowledge and study; I was determined to find wisdom and the answers to my questions, and to learn how wicked and foolish stupidity is.
26 I found something more bitter than death—the woman who is like a trap. The love she offers you will catch you like a net, and her arms around you will hold you like a chain. A man who pleases God can get away, but she will catch the sinner. 27 Yes, said the Philosopher, I found this out little by little while I was looking for answers. 28 I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. 29 This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.
Ounongo newaneneno noluhepo
1 Edina la fimana li dule omaadi mawa, nefiku lokufya li dule efiku lokudalwa. 2 Sha wapala okuya meumbo li neefya, shi dule okuya meumbo li noitelekela. Osheshi linya olo exulilo lovanhu aveshe, nomunamwenyo ote shi diladila momwenyo waye. 3 Oluhodi li dule okuyola, osheshi tashi wapalele omwenyo ngeenge oshipala sha nyika oufiye. 4 Omutima wovanaendunge u li meumbo li neefya, ndelenee omutima womalai u li meumbo lehafo. 5 Sha wapala okupwilikina ehanyeno lomunaendunge shi dule okupwilikina eimbilo lomalai. 6 Osheshi ngaashi omano taa topatopa koshi yombiya, osho okuyola kwelai. Okwo yo ongahoelela. 7 Oshili, eliko loipupulu tali laipike omunaendunge, nombubo tai nyono po omutima. 8 Exulilo loshinima li dule ehovelo lasho. Omutalanheni e dule omulinenepeki. 9 Ino endelela okulihandukifa nomwenyo woye, osheshi ehandu tali kala monhulo yelai. 10 Ino tya: “Omolwashike hano omafiku onale a li mawa e dule aa opaife?” Osheshi ito shi pula neendunge! 11 Ounongo u fike pamwe noshifyuululwatukulwa nekwafo laava hava tale etango. 12 Osheshi epopilo lounongo olo ngaashi epopilo loimaliwa. Ndelenee ekwafo lokushiiva, olo ounongo tau kwatelele omwenyo mwaau e u na.
13 Tala nokutala oilonga yaKalunga, osheshi olyelye ta dulu okuyukifa osho Ye e shi endamekifa? 14 Kala wa hafa mefiku liwa, ndele mefiku lii, kala u shi shii nokutya, Kalunga okwa ninga efiku eli ngaashi linya; osheshi omunhu ita pewa sha mwaai tai mu shikula. 15 Aishe nde i mona momafiku ange oyo yongaho: oku novayuki tava nyonauka ko mouyuki wavo, ndele oku na ovahenakalunga tava kala nomwenyo efimbo lile mowii wavo, 16 Ino kala unene omuyuki ndele ino limonifa omunaendunge unene. Omolwashike wa hala ngeno okulinyona po? 17 Ino kala unene omukolokoshi, ndele ino kala elai. Omolwashike ngeno u fye efimbo manga inali fika? 18 Oshe ku wapalela ngeenge ho kala nokwaama kushimwe, ndelenee eke loye liha efe shinya, osheshi ou ha tila Kalunga, ota xupifwa mwaaishe oyo. 19 Ounongo tau kwafa omunongo nekwafo linene li dule ovapangeli omulongo vomoshilando. 20 Osheshi kombada yedu kape na nande omunhu omuyuki, ou ha ningi ngeno ouwa auke, ndele ita nyono. 21 Ino dimbulukwa eendjovo adishe we di popiwa kovanhu, opo uha ude omupiya woye te ku tuku. 22 Osheshi omutima woye mwene yo u shi shii nhumbi wa tuka vakweni luhapu. 23 Ashishe eshi nde shi yelekela nounongo. Onda tile: “Ame nda hala ndi ninge omunongo,” ndelenee ounongo wa kala kokule naame. 24 Aishe oyo i li kokule nomokulekule, olyelye ta dulu oku i shiiva?
25 Momutima wange nda hovela okulilonga nokudiladila nokukonga ounongo nokushiiva osho sha konekwa, opo ndi shiive nokutya, ouhenakalunga owo oulai, noulai owo okukala kuhe neendunge. 26 Ndele nda mona sha shilula shi dule efyo: Omukainhu e nomutima wa fa eendjadja, nomake aye e li ngaashi omalyenge. Omunhu ou ta wapalele Kalunga ota xupifwa muye, ndelenee omulongi woulunde ta kwatwa kuye. 27 Tala, osho tuu eshi nde shi mona, omuudifi ta ti mokukonga kwaye efikilo lekonakono nokutula kumwe shimwe nashikwao, 28 osho omwenyo wange we shi konga efimbo lile, ndelenee inau shi mona. Onda mona omulumenhu umwe movalumenhu eyovi, ndelenee mwaaveshe venya inandi mona mo nande omukainhu umwe. 29 Tala, eshi ashike nde shi mona nokutya, Kalunga okwa ninga omunhu a kale a yuka, ndelenee voovene ohave likongele eemhangela dihapu dii.
