Ecclesiastes 1
1 verba Ecclesiastes filii David regis Hierusalem
Words of a preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 vanitas vanitatum dixit Ecclesiastes vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas
Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities: the whole [is] vanity.
3 quid habet amplius homo de universo labore suo quod laborat sub sole
What advantage [is] to man by all his labor that he labors at under the sun?
4 generatio praeterit et generatio advenit terra vero in aeternum stat
A generation is going, and a generation is coming, and the earth is standing for all time.
5 oritur sol et occidit et ad locum suum revertitur ibique renascens
Also, the sun has risen, and the sun has gone in, and to its place panting it is rising there.
6 gyrat per meridiem et flectitur ad aquilonem lustrans universa circuitu pergit spiritus et in circulos suos regreditur
Going to the south, and turning around to the north, turning around, turning around, the wind is going, and by its circuits the wind has returned.
7 omnia flumina intrant mare et mare non redundat ad locum unde exeunt flumina revertuntur ut iterum fluant
All the streams are going to the sea, and the sea is not full; to a place to where the streams are going, there they are turning back to go.
8 cunctae res difficiles non potest eas homo explicare sermone non saturatur oculus visu nec auris impletur auditu
All these things are wearying; a man is not able to speak, the eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor is the ear filled from hearing.
9 quid est quod fuit ipsum quod futurum est quid est quod factum est ipsum quod fiendum est
What [is] that which has been? It [is] that which is, and what [is] that which has 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] says: “See this, it [is] new!” Already it has 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 Israhel in Hierusalem
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 has been done under the heavens. It [is] a sad travail God has given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
14 vidi quae fiunt cuncta sub sole et ecce universa vanitas et adflictio spiritus
I have seen all the works that have been done under the sun, and behold, the whole [is] vanity and distress 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 sapientia omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Hierusalem et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter et didicit
I spoke with my heart, saying, “I, behold, have magnified and added wisdom above everyone who has been before me at Jerusalem, and my heart has seen wisdom and knowledge abundantly.
17 dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam atque doctrinam erroresque et stultitiam et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor et adflictio spiritus
And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this [is] distress of spirit;
18 eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio et qui addit scientiam addat et laborem
for in abundance of wisdom [is] abundance of sadness, and he who adds knowledge adds pain.”
