Ekiliziastis 1
1 Okwu onye ozizi, nwa Devid, onye bụ eze na Jerusalem.
[I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
2 Ihe efu, ihe niile bụ ihe efu ka onye ozizi na-ekwu. Ihe na-enweghị isi ka ihe niile bụ. Ihe niile bụ nnọọ ihe efu.
I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
3 Olee uru mmadụ na-enweta site na ndọgbu niile ọ na-adọgbu onwe ya nʼọrụ nʼokpuru anyanwụ?
(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]
4 Otu ọgbọ laa, ọgbọ ọzọ abịa, ma ụwa na-adịgide ruo ebighị ebi.
[Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
5 Anyanwụ na-awa, na-adakwa, ma mee ngwangwa laghachi ebe o si awapụta.
[Each morning] the sun rises, and [each evening] it sets, and [then] it hurries around to where it started from.
6 Ifufe na-efe gaa na ndịda; feekwa gburugburu gaa nʼugwu, ọ na-efegharị gburugburu ebe niile; na-efe na-enweghịkwa nsọtụ.
The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
7 Mmiri dị nʼiyi niile na-asọbanye nʼoke osimiri ma oke osimiri ejughị eju. Emesịakwa, mmiri ndị a na-alọghachi nʼiyi ndị a, malitekwa ịsọkwa na-aga nʼosimiri.
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.
8 Ihe niile nọ na-adọgbu onwe ha nʼọrụ; ọnụ apụghị ịkọ ụdị ike ọgwụgwụ dịnụ. Otu ọbụla anyị si lee anya, afọ adịghị eju anya anyị. Afọ adịghịkwa eju ntị anyị ịnụ ihe, na ige ntị.
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.
9 Ihe ọbụla nke dịrịla na mbụ ga-adịkwa ọzọ. Ihe ndị mmadụ mere nʼoge gara aga ka a ga-emekwa ọzọ. Ọ dịkwaghị ihe ọhụrụ ọbụla dị nʼokpuru anyanwụ.
[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].
10 Ọ dị ihe enwere ike ikwu sị, “Lee, ihe a bụ ihe ọhụrụ”? Ọ bụ ihe dịịrị nʼoge gara aga, nʼoge ndị garalarị tupu oge anyị.
Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
11 Anaghị echeta ndị mgbe ochie, otu aka ahụ kwa, ọgbọ na-abịa abịa ndị ga-eso ha agakwaghị echeta ha.
[People] do not remember the things [that happened] long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now.
12 Mụ onwe m bụ onye nkuzi, bụrịị eze Izrel nʼime Jerusalem.
I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
13 Ekpebiri m, were onwe m nye, iji amamihe nnyochapụta ihe m nwere ike ịmata banyere ihe niile a na-eme nʼime ụwa. Olee ụdị ibu arọ bụ nke a, nke Chineke bokwasịrị ụmụ mmadụ?
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.
14 Enyochaala m ihe niile a na-eme nʼụwa chọpụta na ha enweghị isi. Ọ dị ka mmadụ ịchụgharị ifufe.
It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
15 Ihe gbagọrọ agbagọ, apụghị ime ya ka ọ dizie. Ihe na-ezughị ezu, enweghị ike ịgụta ha ọnụ.
[Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
16 Echere m nʼime obi m sị, “Lee anya! Aghọọla m onye ukwu, bụrụ onye maara ihe karịa ndị eze niile chịrịla na Jerusalem. Enweela m amamihe nʼebe ọ dị ukwu, babigakwa ụba oke nʼihe ọmụma.”
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!”
17 Nʼihi ya, agbalịsiri m ike ịmụta ihe dị iche nʼetiti ihe ọmụma, na ịyị ara na nzuzu. Ma ihe m chọpụtara bụ na ọ baghị uru. Ọ dị ka itufu oge ịchọ ụzọ ijide ifufe.
[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.
18 Nʼihi na mgbe amamihe na-aba ụba, mgbe ahụ ka iwe na ọnụma na-ejupụta, oke ihe ọmụma na-ewetakwa oke ihe mgbu.
The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
