Ecclesiastes 1
1 [I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
Mashoko oMuparidzi, mwanakomana waDhavhidhi, mambo muJerusarema:
2 I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
Zvanzi noMuparidzi, “Hazvina maturo! Hazvina maturo! Hazvina maturo chose! Zvose hazvina maturo.”
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]
Munhu achawaneiko kubva pakushanda kwake kwose kwaanoita nesimba pasi pezuva?
4 [Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
Zvizvarwa zvinouya uye zvizvarwa zvinoenda, asi nyika inogara nokusingaperi.
5 [Each morning] the sun rises, and [each evening] it sets, and [then] it hurries around to where it started from.
Zuva rinobuda uye zuva rinovira, uye rinokurumidza kudzokerazve kwarinobudira.
6 The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
Mhepo inovhuvhuta ichienda zasi, yozodzokera kumusoro; inotenderera nokutenderera ichingodzokerazve pagwara rayo.
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.
Nzizi dzose dzinodira mugungwa, kunyange zvakadaro gungwa harizari. Kunzvimbo kwadzinobva nzizi, ikoko ndiko kwadzinodzokerazve.
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.
Zvinhu zvose zvinonetesa, zvisina ani angazvitaura. Ziso hariguti kuona, uye nzeve haizari nokunzwa.
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].
Chakanga chiripo, chichazovapozve, chakamboitwa chichaitwazve; hapana chitsva pasi pezuva.
10 Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
Chiripo here chinhu chinganzi nomunhu, “Tarira! Chinhu ichi chitsva?” Chakanga chichingovapo, kare kare; chakanga chiripo isu tisati tavapo.
11 [People] do not remember the things [that happened] long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now.
Vanhu vakare havacharangarirwi; uye kunyange vanovatevera, havachazorangarirwi nevanozotevera.
12 I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
Ini muparidzi ndakanga ndiri mambo weIsraeri muJerusarema.
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.
Ndakazvipira kunzvera nokutsvaka nouchenjeri zvose zvinoitwa pasi pedenga. Ibasa rinotambudza rakapiwa vanakomana vavanhu naMwari kuti vazvitambudze naro.
14 It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
Ndakaona zvinhu zvose zvinoitwa pasi pezuva; zvose hazvo hazvina maturo, kudzingana nemhepo bedzi.
15 [Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
Chakakombamiswa hachingatwasanudzwi; chinoshayikwa hachingaverengwi.
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!”
Ndakafunga mumwoyo mangu ndikati, “Tarira, ndazviwanira uchenjeri hwakawanda kupfuura vose vakanditangira kutonga muJerusarema; ndava nouchenjeri uye noruzivo rwakawanda.”
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.
Ipapo ndakazvipira kutsvaka kunzwisisa uchenjeri uyezve noupengo noupenzi, asi ndakadzidzawo zvakare kuti, naizvozviwo kudzingana nemhepo.
18 The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
Nokuti muuchenjeri huzhinji mune kusuwa kuzhinji; kuwanda kwezivo, kuwandawo kwokuchema.
