Ecclesiastes 1
1 Words of a preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
Verba Ecclesiastæ, filii David, regis Ierusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities: the whole [is] vanity.
Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes: vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.
3 What advantage [is] to man by all his labor that he labors at under the sun?
Quid habet amplius homo de universo labore suo, quo laborat sub sole?
4 A generation is going, and a generation is coming, and the earth is standing for all time.
Generatio præterit, et generatio advenit: terra autem in æternum stat.
5 Also, the sun has risen, and the sun has gone in, and to its place panting it is rising there.
Oritur sol, et occidit, et ad locum suum revertitur: ibique renascens,
6 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.
gyrat per Meridiem, et flectitur ad Aquilonem: lustrans universa in circuitu pergit spiritus, et in circulos suos revertitur.
7 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.
Omnia flumina intrant in mare, et mare non redundat: ad locum, unde exeunt flumina, revertuntur ut iterum fluant.
8 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.
Cunctæ res difficiles: non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur.
9 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.
Quid est quod fuit? ipsum quod futurum est. Quid est quod factum est? ipsum quod faciendum est.
10 There is a thing of which [one] says: “See this, it [is] new!” Already it has been in the ages that were before us!
Nihil sub sole novum, nec valet quisquam dicere: Ecce hoc recens est: iam enim præcessit in sæculis, quæ fuerunt ante nos.
11 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.
Non est priorum memoria: sed nec eorum quidem, quæ postea futura sunt, erit recordatio apud eos, qui futuri sunt in novissimo.
12 I, a preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israel in Ierusalem,
13 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.
et proposui in animo meo quærere et investigare sapienter de omnibus, quæ fiunt sub sole. Hanc occupationem pessimam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea.
14 I have seen all the works that have been done under the sun, and behold, the whole [is] vanity and distress of spirit!
Vidi cuncta, quæ fiunt sub sole, et ecce universa vanitas, et afflictio spiritus.
15 A crooked thing [one] is not able to make straight, and a lacking thing is not able to be numbered.
Perversi difficile corriguntur, et stultorum infinitus est numerus.
16 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.
Locutus sum in corde meo, dicens: Ecce magnus effectus sum, et præcessi omnes sapientia, qui fuerunt ante me in Ierusalem: et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter, et didici.
17 And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this [is] distress of spirit;
Dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam, atque doctrinam, erroresque et stultitiam: et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor, et afflictio spiritus,
18 for in abundance of wisdom [is] abundance of sadness, and he who adds knowledge adds pain.”
eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio: et qui addit scientiam, addit et laborem.
