Ecclesiastes 1
1 [I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
Ny tenin’ i Mpitoriteny, zanak’ i Davida, mpanjaka tany Jerosalema.
2 I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
Zava-poana dia zava-poana, hoy Mpitoriteny, zava-poana dia zava-poana, eny, zava-poana ny zavatra rehetra!
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]
Inona no soa azon’ ny olona amin’ ny fisasarany rehetra izay isasarany atỳ ambanin’ ny masoandro?
4 [Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
Lasa ny taranaka iray, ary mandimby kosa ny taranaka iray; fa ny tany mbola maharitra mandrakizay.
5 [Each morning] the sun rises, and [each evening] it sets, and [then] it hurries around to where it started from.
Ny masoandro koa miposaka ary ny masoandro milentika sady miriotra ho any amin’ ny fitoerana izay niposahany.
6 The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
Mianatsimo ny rivotra, dia mihodìna mianavaratra, mivezivezy mandrakariva izy ka miverimberina manodidina indray.
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.
Ny renirano rehetra dia samy mankamin’ ny ranomasina, nefa tsy tondraka ny ranomasina; any amin’ izay falehan’ ny renirano ihany no iverenany indray.
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.
Maivana ny teny rehetra, ka tsy misy olona mahalaza; ny maso tsy mamo mijery, ary ny sofina tsy mamo mihaino.
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].
Izay efa teo ihany no ho tonga indray, ary izay efa natao ihany no mbola hatao indray fa tsy misy zava-baovao akory atỳ ambanin’ ny masoandro.
10 Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
Raha misy zavatra azo lazaina hoe: He! ity no vaovao, dia ilay efa teo ela tany amin’ ny andro talohantsika ihany izany.
11 [People] do not remember the things [that happened] long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now.
Tsy misy fahatsiarovana ny taloha; ary ny ho avy koa dia tsy hotsarovan’ izay handimby azy.
12 I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
Izaho Mpitoriteny dia mpanjakan’ ny Isiraely tany Jerosalema;
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.
ary nampiasaiko ny foko mba hitady sy hikatsaka amim-pahendrena ny zavatra rehetra izay atao atỳ ambanin’ ny lanitra; asa mahareraka omen’ Andriamanitra hisasaran’ ny zanak’ olombelona izany.
14 It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
Efa hitako ny zavatra rehetra izay atao atỳ ambanin’ ny masoandro; fa, indro, zava-poana sy misambo-drivotra foana izany rehetra izany.
15 [Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
Ny meloka tsy mety tonga mahitsy; ary ny tsy ao tsy mba azo isaina.
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!”
Hoy izaho tamin’ ny foko: Indro, izaho nahazo fahendrena be dia be mihoatra noho izay rehetra talohako teto Jerosalema; eny, ny foko nahita ny fahendrena sy ny fahalalana betsaka.
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.
Ary nampiasaiko ny foko hahalala fahendrena sy hahalala fahaverezan-tsaina sy fahadalana; dia fantatro fa misambo-drivotra foana koa izany,
18 The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
satria izay be fahendrena dia be alahelo, ary izay mitombo fahalalana dia mitombo fahoriana.
