Ecclesiastes 1
1 [I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
Amazwi oMtshumayeli, indodana kaDavida inkosi yaseJerusalema:
2 I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
“Ize! Ize!” kutsho uMtshumayeli. “Ize elipheleleyo! Konke kuyize.”
3 (What do people gain from all the work that they do here on the earth?/It seems that people gain no lasting benefit from all the work that they do here on the earth.) [RHQ]
Umuntu uzuzani ngawo wonke umsebenzi wakhe awusebenza nzima ngaphansi kwelanga?
4 [Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
Izizukulwane ziyafika, izizukulwane ziyedlula, kodwa umhlaba umi lanini.
5 [Each morning] the sun rises, and [each evening] it sets, and [then] it hurries around to where it started from.
Ilanga liyaphuma njalo ilanga liyatshona, liphinde liphange libuyele lapho eliphuma khona.
6 The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
Umoya uphephethela eningizimu ujike uye enyakatho; uyabhoda, ubhode njalo ujinge ubuyela endleleni yawo.
7 All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is never full. The water returns [to the sky], and [when it rains], the water returns to the rivers, and it flows again to the sea.
Zonke izifula zigelezela olwandle, kodwa ulwandle kalugcwali. Endaweni lapho izifula ezidabuka khona zicina zibuyela khona njalo.
8 Everything is boring, [with the result that] we do not even want to talk about it. We [SYN] see things, but we always want to see more. We [SYN] hear things, but we always want to hear more.
Zonke izinto ziyadina, lokho okungelandiswe muntu. Ilihlo kalidinwa yikubona, lendlebe layo kayigcwali ngokuzwa.
9 [Everything continues to be the same as it has always been]; things that happen have happened previously, and they will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing [really] new in this world [MTY].
Lokho okwake kwaba khona kuzakuba khona njalo; okwake kwenziwa kuzakwenziwa njalo; akulalutho olutsha ngaphansi kwelanga.
10 Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
Kukhona yini umuntu angathi ngakho, “Khangela! Lolulutho lutsha?” Selwake lwaba khona ngaphambili, kudala; lwalukhona singakabi khona.
11 [People] do not remember the things [that happened] long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now.
Kayikho imikhumbulo ngabantu bakudala, njalo lalabo abezayo abayikukhunjulwa yilabo abalandelayo.
12 I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
Mina Mtshumayeli, ngangiyinkosi yako-Israyeli eJerusalema.
13 By being wise, I concentrated on understanding everything that was being done on the earth [MTY]. [But I found out that] God causes [all of] us to experience things that cause us to be unhappy/miserable.
Ngazinikela ekufundeni lokudingisisa ngolwazi konke okwenziwayo ngaphansi kwezulu. Unzima kangakanani umthwalo uNkulunkulu awethese abantu!
14 It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
Sengizibonile zonke izinto ezenziwayo ngaphansi kwelanga; zonke kazitsho lutho, kuyikuxotshana lomoya.
15 [Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
Okutshileneyo kungaze kwaqondiswa; okungekho kungaze kwabalwa.
16 I said to myself, “[Hey], I am wiser than any of the kings that ruled in Jerusalem before I [became the king]. I am wiser and I know more than any of them!”
Ngacabanga ngedwa ngathi, “Khangela, sengikhulile njalo kwanda ukuhlakanipha kwami okudlula bonke asebake babusa eJerusalema ngaphambi kwami; sengibe lakho ukuhlakanipha okukhulu lolwazi.”
17 [So] I determined to learn [more] about being wise and to learn about knowing about many things, and [also] to learn about [doing things that are] very foolish [DOU]. [But] I found out that trying to understand those things was also [useless, like] chasing the wind.
Ngasengizimisela ukuzwisisa ukuhlakanipha, njalo lokuphambana ingqondo lobuwula, kodwa ngafunda ukuthi lokhu lakho kuyikuxotshana lomoya.
18 The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
Phela ngokwanda kokuhlakanipha kuyanda lokukhathazeka; ukwandisa ulwazi yikwandisa usizi.
