Tjimwe ne tjimwe tjina nsi watjo
1 Tjimwe ne tjimwe tjina nsi watjo,
ne ndebo imwe ne imwe ina tjibaka tjayo mu shango:
2 Kuna tjibaka tje kuzwagwa
ne tjibaka tje kufa,
tjibaka tje kudzwala
ne tjibaka tje kuvuna,
3 tjibaka tje kubulaya
ne tjibaka tje kupodza,
tjibaka tje ku pkhwanya
ne tjibaka tje kubaka,
4 tjibaka tje kulila
ne tjibaka tje kuseka,
tjibaka tje kudzipitana
ne tjibaka tje kuzana,
5 tjibaka tje kulasha mabgwe
ne tjibaka tje kukubunganya mabgwe,
tjibaka tje kugumbatila
ne tjibaka tje kusagumbatila,
6 tjibaka tje kushaka
ne tjibaka tje kulashikigwa,
tjibaka tje kubiga
ne tjibaka tjekulasha,
7 tjibaka tje kupalula
ne tjibaka tje kuthuma,
tjibaka tje kunyalala
ne tjibaka tje kulebeleka,
8 tjibaka tje kuda
ne tjibaka tje kubenga,
tjibaka tje ngwa
ne tjibaka tje mbakiso.
9 Nshingi unobuyigwa ngeni mu kushinga kungapa? 10 Ndakabona ntolo wakapiwa bakololo be bathu nge Ndzimu, kuti badzulukutane nawo. 11 Wakathama tjimwe ne tjimwe kuti tjinake mu tjibaka tjatjo, kakale wakalonga kusina bupelo mu nkumbulo we nthu, kuti asitongobe ne unoziba Ndzimu tjawakathama kudwa kutangisa kunoti ku bupelo. 12 Ndoziba kuti akuna tjimwe tjinoyita mubali kuzhe kwe kushatha ne kupembela ha batjatjila mu shango, 13 kakale kuti itjipo tje Ndzimu ku bathu kuti mmwe ne mmwe aje ang'we kakale awane kushatha mu nshingo uwe. 14 Ndoziba kuti tjinobe tjathamiwa nge Ndzimu tjogalila tjose, akuna tjingapaphidziwa mutjili, kene tjimwe tjinga dusiwa mutjili, Ndzimu wakathama kuti kujalo, kuti ndizo bathu bautje. 15 Itjo tjiyapo, tjakabepo kale, tjinowobepo, tjakabepo kale, kakale Ndzimu unoshaka itjetji tjakapinda kale.
Kushayika kutambunuka mu shango
16 Pezhugwi kwa ipapo ndakabona kuti mu shango mu bumo gwe thambunuko kuna bubi ne mu bumo gwe ndulamo naipo bo pana bubi. 17 Ndakati mu moyo, “Ndzimu unowosumikilisa balulwami ne batjinyi,” nekuti wakabiga tjibaka tje ndebo imwe ne imwe, ne tjibaka tje nshingo mmwe ne mmwe. 18 Ndakazwidwa mu moyo wangu ngekwe bakololo be bathu kuti Ndzimu unobalika kubalakidza kuti ba phuka. 19 Zwinoshingikalila bakololo be bathu ne zwinoshingikalila phuka zofanana, nthu ha efa phuka inofabo. Zose zofema, kakale nthu aana tjaanopinda phuka nditjo, nekuti kose madatha. 20 Zose zoyenda pathu pa ng'ompela, zose zodwa mu mavu, kakale zose zowobgwilila ku mavu. 21 Ndiyani unoziba kuti meya ye nthu ini yenda kudzimu meya ye phuka iyo inoyenda pasi mu shango kene? 22 Ndizowali ndakabona kuti akuna tjinopinda kuti nthu azipigwe ne nshingo uwe, ngobe ndilo gobe lile, ndiyani utjowommusa kuti azhe kuwobona zwinoshingikala asinobe afa?
Everything Has Its Time
1 Everything on earth
has its own time
and its own season.
2 There is a time
for birth and death,
planting and reaping,
3 for killing and healing,
destroying and building,
4 for crying and laughing,
weeping and dancing,
5 for throwing stones
and gathering stones,
embracing and parting.
6 There is a time
for finding and losing,
keeping and giving,
7 for tearing and sewing,
listening and speaking.
8 There is also a time
for love and hate,
for war and peace.
What God Has Given Us To Do
9 What do we gain by all our hard work? 10 I have seen what difficult things God demands of us. 11 God makes everything happen at the right time. Yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done, and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future. 12 I know the best thing we can do is to always enjoy life, 13 because God's gift to us is the happiness we get from our food and drink and from the work we do. 14 Everything God has done will last forever; nothing he does can ever be changed. God has done all this, so that we will worship him.
15 Everything that happens
has happened before,
and all that will be
has already been—
God does everything
over and over again.
The Future Is Known Only to God
16 Everywhere on earth I saw violence and injustice instead of fairness and justice. 17 So I told myself that God has set a time and a place for everything. He will judge everyone, both the wicked and the good. 18 I know God is testing us to show us that we are merely animals. 19 Like animals we breathe and die, and we are no better off than they are. It just doesn't make sense. 20 All living creatures go to the same place. We are made from earth, and we return to earth. 21 Who really knows if our spirits go up and the spirits of animals go down into the earth? 22 We were meant to enjoy our work, and that's the best thing we can do. We can never know the future.