< Patukkung 1 >
1 Jerusalem ih siangpahrang, David capa, Patukkung ih loknawk loe hae tiah oh.
Words of a preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 Azom pui ni! Azom pui ni! tiah Patukkung mah thuih; azom pui ni! Hmuen boih hae azom pui ah ni oh.
Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities: the whole [is] vanity.
3 Kami mah ni tlim ah angpho qawt hoi toksakhaih atho timaw oh?
What advantage [is] to man by all his labor that he labors at under the sun?
4 Adung maeto laemh naah, adung kalah maeto angzoh; toe long loe dungzan khoek to cak poe.
A generation is going, and a generation is coming, and the earth is standing for all time.
5 Ni doeh tacawt tahang moe, akun tathuk, angmah tacawthaih ahmuen hoiah ni tacawt let.
Also, the sun has risen, and the sun has gone in, and to its place panting it is rising there.
6 Takhi loe aloih bangah song tathuk moe, aluek bangah amlaem tahang; ahnuk ahma amhae moe, a songhaih ahmuen ah amlaem let.
Going to the south, and turning around to the north, turning around, turning around, the wind is going, and by its circuits the wind has returned.
7 Vapuinawk boih loe tuipui ah long o tathuk; toe tuipui loe koi ai toengtoeng vop, vapuinawk loe angmacae long tangsuekhaih ahmuen ah amlaem o let.
All the streams are going to the sea, and the sea is not full; to a place to where the streams are going, there they are turning back to go.
8 Hmuen boih loe kami mah thui thaih han ai khoek to, angpho haih koiah ni oh o; mik mah a hnukhaih to boep thai ai, naa doeh a thaihaih hoiah koi thai ai.
All these things are wearying; a man is not able to speak, the eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor is the ear filled from hearing.
9 Kaom han koi hmuen loe, kaom tangcae hmuen baktiah ni om tih; sak han kaom hmuen doeh, sak tangcae hmuen baktih ni sah let tih; ni tlim ah hmuen kangtha tidoeh om ai.
What [is] that which has been? It [is] that which is, and what [is] that which has been done? It [is] that which is done, and there is not an entirely new thing under the sun.
10 Khenah, Hae loe hmuen kangtha ah oh, tiah thuih han koi hmuen oh maw? To baktih hmuen loe canghnii hoiah ni oh boeh.
There is a thing of which [one] says: “See this, it [is] new!” Already it has been in the ages that were before us!
11 Canghnii ih hmuennawk to mi mah doeh panoek ai boeh; angzo han koi kaminawk mah doeh, angzo han koi hmuennawk to panoek o mak ai.
There is not a remembrance of former [generations]; and also of the latter that are, there is no remembrance of them with those that are at the last.
12 Kai, Patukkung loe Jerusalem Israel siangpahrang ah ka oh.
I, a preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 Ni tlim ah sak ih hmuennawk boih to palunghahaih hoiah ka pakrong moe, panoek thai hanah tha ka pathok; Sithaw mah to hmuenzit to kaminawk hanah pahoe pae boeh.
And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that has been done under the heavens. It [is] a sad travail God has given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
14 Ni tlim ah sak ih hmuennawk to ka hnuk boih; khenah, hmuen boih loe azom pui ni, poek angpho han ih ni oh o.
I have seen all the works that have been done under the sun, and behold, the whole [is] vanity and distress of spirit!
15 Angkawn pacoeng boeh loe patoengh thai ai boeh; angaihaih doeh kroek thai ai boeh.
A crooked thing [one] is not able to make straight, and a lacking thing is not able to be numbered.
16 Khenah, kai loe, ka om ai nathuem ih Israel ukkungnawk pongah, ka len kue moe, palunghahaih bangah doeh ka sang kue; ue, palunghahaih hoi panoekhaih to pop kue ah ka tawnh, tiah ka poek.
I spoke with my heart, saying, “I, behold, have magnified and added wisdom above everyone who has been before me at Jerusalem, and my heart has seen wisdom and knowledge abundantly.
17 Palunghahaih bang, amthuhaih bang hoi poek cai ai ah ohhaih bangah doeh, ka panoek thai hanah palungthin to ka paek; hae hmuen doeh takhi hnuk patom baktiah ni oh toengtoeng.
And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this [is] distress of spirit;
18 Palunghahaih pop baktiah, palungsethaih doeh pop; panoekhaih pop kami loe, palungsethaih doeh pop aep.
for in abundance of wisdom [is] abundance of sadness, and he who adds knowledge adds pain.”