UmTshumayeli 1
1 Amazwi omTshumayeli, indodana kaDavida, inkosi eJerusalema.
[I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
2 Ize leze, kutsho umTshumayeli, ize leze, konke kuyize.
I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
3 Kuyinzuzoni emuntwini emtshikatshikeni wakhe wonke awutshikatshika 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 Isizukulwana siyedlula, lesizukulwana size, kodwa umhlaba umi kuze kube nininini.
[Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
5 Lelanga liyaphuma, lelanga litshone, litshetshela endaweni 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 uya eningizimu, ujikele enyakatho, ujikajike uhambe, lomoya ubuyele ekubhodeni kwawo.
The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
7 Yonke imifula iya olwandle, kodwa ulwandle kalugcwali; endaweni lapho imifula evela khona, ibuyele iye khona.
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 ziyadinisa; kakulamuntu olakho ukukukhuluma. Ilihlo kalisuthi ngokubona, lendlebe kayigcwaliswa yikuzwa.
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 Okwake kwaba khona yilokho okuzakuba khona, lokwake kwenziwa yilokho okuzakwenziwa; njalo kakulalutho 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 Kungaba khona ulutho yini okungathiwa ngalo: Khangela, lokhu kutsha! Kwakuvele kukhona endulo engaphambi kwethu.
Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
11 Kakukho ukukhunjulwa kwezinto zakuqala; njalo lezinto ezizayo ezizakuba khona kakuyikuba khona ukukhunjulwa kwazo lalabo abazakuba khona emva kwalokho.
[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 phezu kukaIsrayeli eJerusalema.
I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
13 Ngasenginikela inhliziyo yami ukudinga lokuhlolisisa ngokuhlakanipha ngakho konke okwenziwayo ngaphansi kwamazulu; lumtshikatshika onzima uNkulunkulu uwunike abantwana babantu ukuthi baphatheke ngawo.
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 Ngiyibonile yonke imisebenzi eyenziwayo ngaphansi kwelanga; khangela-ke, konke kuyize lokukhathazeka komoya.
It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
15 Okugobileyo kakulakuqondiswa; lokuswelekayo kakulakubalwa.
[Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
16 Ngakhuluma mina lenhliziyo yami ngisithi: Khangela, mina ngikhulile ngandisa inhlakanipho phezu kwabo bonke ababephambi kwami eJerusalema; njalo inhliziyo yami ibonile kakhulu inhlakanipho 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 Nganginikela inhliziyo yami ukwazi inhlakanipho, lokwazi ukuhlanya lobuthutha, ngabona ukuthi lalokhu yikukhathazeka komoya.
[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 Ngoba kunhlakanipho enengi kulokukhathazeka okunengi, lowandisa ulwazi wandisa usizi.
The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
