Phungdeikung 1
1 Devit capa, phungdeikung Jerusalem siangpahrang ni a dei e lawk teh,
These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 Ahrawnghrang doeh, ahrawnghrang doeh. Bangpueng hai ahrawnghrang doeh.
“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
3 Kanî rahim vah tami ni a tawksak e pueng bang hawinae maw kaawm.
What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
4 Se buet touh aloum teh se alouke bout a tâco. Hatei, talai teh a kangning.
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5 Kanî a tâco teh bout a khup. Hatei, a tâconae koehoi bout bout a tâco.
The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.
6 Kahlî haiyah a kâheinae koe lah bout bout a kâhei.
The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
7 Tuipuinaw a lawng teh talîpui dawk koung a kâcu eiteh kawi hoeh. Talîpui teh a lawngnae koelah bout bout a ban.
All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.
8 Bangpueng hai tami ni dei thai hoeh totouh patangnae a kâhmo. Mit ni a khet eiteh hmawt thai hoeh. Hnâ ni a thai eiteh boum thai hoeh.
All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
9 Hno kaawm tangcoung e hai bout kaawm hane hoi a kâvan. Atu sak e hai bout sak hane hoi a kâvan. Kanî rahim vah hno katha awm hoeh.
What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Khenhaw! hno katha buet tabang ao maw awm hoeh, ayan vah yo kaawm tangcoung e doeh.
Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.
11 Ayan kaawm boi e hnonaw ouk pahnim thai awh. Ka tho hane naw hai ka tho hane naw ni bout a pahnim awh han.
There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
12 Kai, phungdeikung, Jerusalem khopui dawk Isarel siangpahrang lah ka o nah,
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 Kanî rahim vah sakyoe e pueng thoumthainae lahoi pakhingpalang lungthin ka tawng. Cathut ni taminaw koe khoram sak nahanelah a patangpalai sak.
And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
14 Kanî rahim e hnosak e pueng ka hmu toe. Bangpueng ahrawnghrang doeh. Kahlî ka man e hoi doeh a kâvan.
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
15 Ka longkawi e teh palan thai hoeh. Kamko e hno teh touk mahoeh.
What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 Kama hoi kama ka kâdei e teh, kai teh Jerusalem kauknaw pueng hlakvah ka talue, ka lung a ang, ka lungthin ni lungangnae hah alawkpui lah a kamtu.
I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 Lungangnae hoi pathunae, polainae pakhingpalang ka tawn. Hot naw haiyah, kahlî man e patetlah doeh ao.
So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
18 Lungangnae apap nah, lungreithainae a pap. Thoumthainae apapnae koe lungmathoenae hoe a pap.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
