1 Nē xūn hoana ôaǃnâ tsî ta ge Elob ǂhanu-ai khoen tsî gā-ain tsî hoaraga xūn ǁîn ra dīn ai ra gaosîsen ǃkhaisa ge mûǂan. ǁÎn ge Elob nî ǁîna ūǃoa tamas ka io ǂhara ǃkhaisa a ǀū. Nēn hoan ge ǃgoaxaǁaeb ǃnâ hâ. 2 Hoaraga xūn ge Elob tawa a ǀgui:
ǂHanu-ain tsî ǂkhaban;
ǃanun tsî ǃanuoǃnân;
ǁnā-i ǁguiba ra-i tsî
ǁnā-i ǁguiba tama-i;
ǁnā-i hîa a ǃgâi-i
tsî ǁnā-i hîa ra ǁore-i;
ǁnā-i hîa ra nū-i
tsî ǁnā-i hîa nūsa xu ra ǁhâ-i tsîn hoana.
3 Nēs ge ǁnān sores ǃnaga ra īn hoan ǃnâ a ǂkhaba:
ǀGui xū-i ǀgui-i xan ge hoana ra hāǂamhe,
tsî khoen ôan di ǂgaob ǂkhabab xa ǀoa hâ,
tsî ǁîn di ûib ǃnâ gu ǃkhausasiga ǂgaob ân ǃnâ hâ ǃkhaisa;
ǁnās khaoǃgân ge ǁō hân tawa nî sī.
4 Xawe ǁnān hîa ûitsaman ge ǃâubasensa ūhâ;
ûitsama ari-i ge ǁō hâ xam-i ǃgâ-ai a ǃgâi.
5 Ûitsaman ge ǁōn nî ǃkhaisa ǂan,
xawe ǁō hân ge xū-i xare-e ǀū,
ǁîn ge mādawa-am-e ūhâ tama hâ
tsîs ge ǁîn xa hâ ǂâiǂâisensa hoaragase ra ǀuruhe.
6 ǁÎn ǀnammi, khāb tsî surib
tsîn ge ǀnai ge kā.
Tātsēs tsînan ge ǁîna ǁkhawa
nē ǃhūbaib ai ra ī xūn ǃnâ
ǃaruǀî ǁhao tide.
7 Sa ǂû-e ǂû î sa ǂauxûi-e ā re, ǃgâiaǂgaoxa ǂgaob ǀkha, nēsab Eloba ǀnai ǂâibasenba tsi hâ xuige. 8 Mâǁaeb hoab ain sa sarana ǃuri, î-i oli-i xare-e tā sa danasa xu ǂnâ. 9 ǁÎsats ǀnam taras ǀkha sa harebeoǃnâ ûitsēdi, Elob ge ǃhūbaib ai mā tsi di ǃnâ ûiǀhao re. ǁNās ge sa ǀhupuǀhupusens hîats nē ǃhūbaib ai ra ǀhupuǀhupusens di mādawa-amsa. 10 Mâ xū-i hîats ra sa ǃomgu ǀkha dī-i hoa-e sa ǀgaib hoab ǀkha dī re. Sîsen-i tamas ka io, ǃeream-i tamas ka io, ǂan-i tamas ka io, gā-aisi-i ǁŌhân Hâǃkhaib, ǁîb ǃoats garub tawa a ǀkhai xuige.
11 ǁKhāti ta ge ǃhūbaib ais ǃkhoesa ǃgari khoe-i dis ǀguisa hî tama i,
ǃkhamsa ǀgaisa-i dis ǀguisa hî tama i,
pereba ǁnâuǃāxan dis ǀguisa hî tama i,
ǃkhūsiba gā-ain dis ǀguisa hî tama i,
ǃgâiǃgâibasensa sîsenǁkhāsiba ūhâ-i dis ǀguisa hî tama i,
ti ī ǃkhaisa ge mûǂan.
ǁAeb tsî mâsib ra ī nî xū-e ǁapoǁapo amaga.
12 Mâǁaeb a sa ǁae ǃkhaisats ge a ǀū.
Anin ǂhaohe hân
tamas ka io ǁaun hîa ǂkhaba ǀûis ǃnâ ǃkhōhe hân
khamib ge khoesiba ǃâubasen tamab
hâse ǂkhabab xa ra ǂhaohe.
Gā-aisib tsî gâsib
13 ǁKhāti ta ge nē aiǁgaus gā-aisib dis, kaise ge kaiba te isa ǃhūbaib ai ge mû. 14 ǁNāpas ge ǂkhari ǃāros, kaise ǀoro khoen ge ǁanǃnâ hâ isa ge hâ i. Kai gao-ao-i ge hā ǁîsa xāǂgā tsî ǁîs di ǂnubiǂgoagu ǃoagu kai ǁapoǁapo-aiga ge ǂnubi. 15 Xaweb ge ǁnāpa ǀgâsa, gā-ai khoeba ge hâ i, ǁîb di gā-aisib ǀkha nē ǃāsa ge ǃnoraǃnoraba. Xawe i ge khoe-i xare-e nē ǀgâsa khoeba ge ǂâihō tama hâ i. 16 O ta ge ra mîba du, gā-aisib ǀgaib ǃgâ-ai a ǃgâi ǃkhaisa, nausas ge nē ǀgâsa khoeb di gā-aisiba ǃharaxūhe tsî mîdi âba ǁnâuhe tama i xawe.
17 Gā-ai khoe-i di ǃnōsa mîde ǃgâs
ge gân ǀapemāǃnans ǂgaeǂgui-ao-i di ǂkhupiba ǃgâs ǃgâ-ai a ǃgâi.
18 Gā-aisib ge torob di ǁâtanin ǃgâ-ai a ǃgâi,
xawe ǀgui ǁore-ao-i ge ǂgui ǃgâi xūna a hîkākā ǁkhā.
1 I thought long and hard about all this and saw that God controls the actions of wise and righteous people, even their love and their hate. No one knows anything about what lies ahead. 2 It makes no difference. The same fate comes to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the bad, to those who are religious and those who are not, to those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. A good person is no better off than a sinner; one who takes an oath is no better off than one who does not. 3 One fate comes to all alike, and this is as wrong as anything that happens in this world. As long as people live, their minds are full of evil and madness, and suddenly they die. 4 But anyone who is alive in the world of the living has some hope; a live dog is better off than a dead lion. 5 Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward; they are completely forgotten. 6 Their loves, their hates, their passions, all died with them. They will never again take part in anything that happens in this world.
7 Go ahead—eat your food and be happy; drink your wine and be cheerful. It's all right with God. 8 Always look happy and cheerful. 9 Enjoy life with the one you love, as long as you live the useless life that God has given you in this world. Enjoy every useless day of it, because that is all you will get for all your trouble. 10 Work hard at whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in the world of the dead—and that is where you are going.
11 I realized another thing, that in this world fast runners do not always win the races, and the brave do not always win the battles. The wise do not always earn a living, intelligent people do not always get rich, and capable people do not always rise to high positions. Bad luck happens to everyone. 12 You never know when your time is coming. Like birds suddenly caught in a trap, like fish caught in a net, we are trapped at some evil moment when we least expect it.
Thoughts on Wisdom and Foolishness
13 There is something else I saw, a good example of how wisdom is regarded in this world. 14 There was a little town without many people in it. A powerful king attacked it. He surrounded it and prepared to break through the walls. 15 Someone lived there who was poor, but so clever that he could have saved the town. But no one thought about him. 16 I have always said that wisdom is better than strength, but no one thinks of the poor as wise or pays any attention to what they say. 17 It is better to listen to the quiet words of someone wise than to the shouts of a ruler at a council of fools. 18 Wisdom does more good than weapons, but one sinner can undo a lot of good.
