Muparidzi 1
1 Mashoko oMuparidzi, mwanakomana waDhavhidhi, mambo muJerusarema:
[I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
2 Zvanzi noMuparidzi, “Hazvina maturo! Hazvina maturo! Hazvina maturo chose! Zvose hazvina maturo.”
I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
3 Munhu achawaneiko kubva pakushanda kwake kwose kwaanoita nesimba pasi pezuva?
(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 Zvizvarwa zvinouya uye zvizvarwa zvinoenda, asi nyika inogara nokusingaperi.
[Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
5 Zuva rinobuda uye zuva rinovira, uye rinokurumidza kudzokerazve kwarinobudira.
[Each morning] the sun rises, and [each evening] it sets, and [then] it hurries around to where it started from.
6 Mhepo inovhuvhuta ichienda zasi, yozodzokera kumusoro; inotenderera nokutenderera ichingodzokerazve pagwara rayo.
The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
7 Nzizi dzose dzinodira mugungwa, kunyange zvakadaro gungwa harizari. Kunzvimbo kwadzinobva nzizi, ikoko ndiko kwadzinodzokerazve.
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 Zvinhu zvose zvinonetesa, zvisina ani angazvitaura. Ziso hariguti kuona, uye nzeve haizari nokunzwa.
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 Chakanga chiripo, chichazovapozve, chakamboitwa chichaitwazve; hapana chitsva pasi pezuva.
[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 Chiripo here chinhu chinganzi nomunhu, “Tarira! Chinhu ichi chitsva?” Chakanga chichingovapo, kare kare; chakanga chiripo isu tisati tavapo.
Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
11 Vanhu vakare havacharangarirwi; uye kunyange vanovatevera, havachazorangarirwi nevanozotevera.
[People] do not remember the things [that happened] long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now.
12 Ini muparidzi ndakanga ndiri mambo weIsraeri muJerusarema.
I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
13 Ndakazvipira kunzvera nokutsvaka nouchenjeri zvose zvinoitwa pasi pedenga. Ibasa rinotambudza rakapiwa vanakomana vavanhu naMwari kuti vazvitambudze naro.
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 Ndakaona zvinhu zvose zvinoitwa pasi pezuva; zvose hazvo hazvina maturo, kudzingana nemhepo bedzi.
It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
15 Chakakombamiswa hachingatwasanudzwi; chinoshayikwa hachingaverengwi.
[Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
16 Ndakafunga mumwoyo mangu ndikati, “Tarira, ndazviwanira uchenjeri hwakawanda kupfuura vose vakanditangira kutonga muJerusarema; ndava nouchenjeri uye noruzivo rwakawanda.”
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 Ipapo ndakazvipira kutsvaka kunzwisisa uchenjeri uyezve noupengo noupenzi, asi ndakadzidzawo zvakare kuti, naizvozviwo kudzingana nemhepo.
[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 Nokuti muuchenjeri huzhinji mune kusuwa kuzhinji; kuwanda kwezivo, kuwandawo kwokuchema.
The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
