UmTshumayeli 1
1 Amazwi oMtshumayeli, indodana kaDavida inkosi yaseJerusalema:
[I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
2 “Ize! Ize!” kutsho uMtshumayeli. “Ize elipheleleyo! Konke kuyize.”
I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
3 Umuntu uzuzani ngawo wonke umsebenzi wakhe awusebenza nzima ngaphansi kwelanga?
(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 Izizukulwane ziyafika, izizukulwane ziyedlula, kodwa umhlaba umi lanini.
[Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
5 Ilanga liyaphuma njalo ilanga liyatshona, liphinde liphange libuyele lapho eliphuma khona.
[Each morning] the sun rises, and [each evening] it sets, and [then] it hurries around to where it started from.
6 Umoya uphephethela eningizimu ujike uye enyakatho; uyabhoda, ubhode njalo ujinge ubuyela endleleni yawo.
The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
7 Zonke izifula zigelezela olwandle, kodwa ulwandle kalugcwali. Endaweni lapho izifula ezidabuka khona zicina zibuyela khona njalo.
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 Zonke izinto ziyadina, lokho okungelandiswe muntu. Ilihlo kalidinwa yikubona, lendlebe layo kayigcwali ngokuzwa.
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 Lokho okwake kwaba khona kuzakuba khona njalo; okwake kwenziwa kuzakwenziwa njalo; akulalutho olutsha ngaphansi kwelanga.
[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 Kukhona yini umuntu angathi ngakho, “Khangela! Lolulutho lutsha?” Selwake lwaba khona ngaphambili, kudala; lwalukhona singakabi khona.
Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
11 Kayikho imikhumbulo ngabantu bakudala, njalo lalabo abezayo abayikukhunjulwa yilabo abalandelayo.
[People] do not remember the things [that happened] long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now.
12 Mina Mtshumayeli, ngangiyinkosi yako-Israyeli eJerusalema.
I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
13 Ngazinikela ekufundeni lokudingisisa ngolwazi konke okwenziwayo ngaphansi kwezulu. Unzima kangakanani umthwalo uNkulunkulu awethese abantu!
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 Sengizibonile zonke izinto ezenziwayo ngaphansi kwelanga; zonke kazitsho lutho, kuyikuxotshana lomoya.
It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
15 Okutshileneyo kungaze kwaqondiswa; okungekho kungaze kwabalwa.
[Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
16 Ngacabanga ngedwa ngathi, “Khangela, sengikhulile njalo kwanda ukuhlakanipha kwami okudlula bonke asebake babusa eJerusalema ngaphambi kwami; sengibe lakho ukuhlakanipha okukhulu lolwazi.”
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 Ngasengizimisela ukuzwisisa ukuhlakanipha, njalo lokuphambana ingqondo lobuwula, kodwa ngafunda ukuthi lokhu lakho kuyikuxotshana lomoya.
[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 Phela ngokwanda kokuhlakanipha kuyanda lokukhathazeka; ukwandisa ulwazi yikwandisa usizi.
The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
