Ecclesiastes 1
1 Verba Ecclesiastae, filii David, regis Ierusalem.
Words of a preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes: vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.
Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, Vanity of vanities: the whole [is] vanity.
3 Quid habet amplius homo de universo labore suo, quo laborat sub sole?
What advantage [is] to man by all his labour that he laboureth at under the sun?
4 Generatio praeterit, et generatio advenit: terra autem in aeternum stat.
A generation is going, and a generation is coming, and the earth to the age is standing.
5 Oritur sol, et occidit, et ad locum suum revertitur: ibique renascens,
Also, the sun hath risen, and the sun hath gone in, and unto its place panting it is rising there.
6 gyrat per Meridiem, et flectitur ad Aquilonem: lustrans universa in circuitu pergit spiritus, et in circulos suos revertitur.
Going unto the south, and turning round unto the north, turning round, turning round, the wind is going, and by its circuits the wind hath returned.
7 Omnia flumina intrant in mare, et mare non redundat: ad locum, unde exeunt flumina, revertuntur ut iterum fluant.
All the streams are going unto the sea, and the sea is not full; unto a place whither the streams are going, thither they are turning back to go.
8 Cunctae res difficiles: non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur.
All these things are wearying; a man is not able to speak, the eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor filled is the ear from hearing.
9 Quid est quod fuit? ipsum quod futurum est. Quid est quod factum est? ipsum quod faciendum est.
What [is] that which hath been? it [is] that which is, and what [is] that which hath been done? it [is] that which is done, and there is not an entirely new thing under the sun.
10 Nihil sub sole novum, nec valet quisquam dicere: Ecce hoc recens est: iam enim praecessit in saeculis, quae fuerunt ante nos.
There is a thing of which [one] saith: 'See this, it [is] new!' already it hath been in the ages that were before us!
11 Non est priorum memoria: sed nec eorum quidem, quae postea futura sunt, erit recordatio apud eos, qui futuri sunt in novissimo.
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.
12 Ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israel in Ierusalem,
I, a preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 et proposui in animo meo quaerere et investigare sapienter de omnibus, quae fiunt sub sole. Hanc occupationem pessimam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea.
And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that hath been done under the heavens. It [is] a sad travail God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
14 Vidi cuncta, quae fiunt sub sole, et ecce universa vanitas, et afflictio spiritus.
I have seen all the works that have been done under the sun, and lo, the whole [is] vanity and vexation of spirit!
15 Perversi difficile corriguntur, et stultorum infinitus est numerus.
A crooked thing [one] is not able to make straight, and a lacking thing is not able to be numbered.
16 Locutus sum in corde meo, dicens: Ecce magnus effectus sum, et praecessi omnes sapientia, qui fuerunt ante me in Ierusalem: et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter, et didici.
I — I spake with my heart, saying, 'I, lo, I have magnified and added wisdom above every one who hath been before me at Jerusalem, and my heart hath seen abundantly wisdom and knowledge.
17 Dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam, atque doctrinam, erroresque et stultitiam: et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor, et afflictio spiritus,
And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this [is] vexation of spirit;
18 eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio: et qui addit scientiam, addit et laborem.
for, in abundance of wisdom [is] abundance of sadness, and he who addeth knowledge addeth pain.'
