Ecclesiastes 1
1 verba Ecclesiastes filii David regis Hierusalem
Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
2 vanitas vanitatum dixit Ecclesiastes vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas
“Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
3 quid habet amplius homo de universo labore suo quod laborat sub sole
What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
4 generatio praeterit et generatio advenit terra vero in aeternum stat
People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
5 oritur sol et occidit et ad locum suum revertitur ibique renascens
The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
6 gyrat per meridiem et flectitur ad aquilonem lustrans universa circuitu pergit spiritus et in circulos suos regreditur
The wind blows south, and then turns to the north. Round and round it spins, finally coming full circle.
7 omnia flumina intrant mare et mare non redundat ad locum unde exeunt flumina revertuntur ut iterum fluant
Streams all flow into the sea, but the sea never becomes full. The streams return to the place from where they came.
8 cunctae res difficiles non potest eas homo explicare sermone non saturatur oculus visu nec auris impletur auditu
Everything just keeps on going. You can't say all there is to say. You can't see all there is to see. You can't hear all there is to hear.
9 quid est quod fuit ipsum quod futurum est quid est quod factum est ipsum quod fiendum est
Everything that was will continue to be; everything that has been done will be done again. Nothing new ever happens here.
10 nihil sub sole novum nec valet quisquam dicere ecce hoc recens est iam enim praecessit in saeculis quae fuerunt ante nos
There's nothing anyone can point to and say, “Look! Here's something new.” In fact it's been around for ages, long before our time.
11 non est priorum memoria sed nec eorum quidem quae postea futura sunt erit recordatio apud eos qui futuri sunt in novissimo
The problem is we don't remember people from the past, and people in the future won't remember those who came before them.
12 ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israhel in Hierusalem
I am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from 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
I decided to focus my mind to explore, using wisdom, everything that happens here on earth. This is a tough assignment that God has given people to keep them busy!
14 vidi quae fiunt cuncta sub sole et ecce universa vanitas et adflictio spiritus
I examined everything people do here on earth, and discovered that it's all so temporary—trying to understand it is like trying to pin down the wind!
15 perversi difficile corriguntur et stultorum infinitus est numerus
You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
16 locutus sum in corde meo dicens ecce magnus effectus sum et praecessi sapientia omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Hierusalem et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter et didicit
I thought to myself, “I've become very wise, wiser than all the kings of Jerusalem before me. My mind has gained a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam atque doctrinam erroresque et stultitiam et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor et adflictio spiritus
So I decided to use my mind to learn everything about wisdom, and madness and foolishness as well. But I found out that this is as hard as trying to catch hold of the wind.
18 eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio et qui addit scientiam addat et laborem
For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
