Ecclesiastes 1
1 Ọ̀rọ̀ Oniwaasu, ọmọ Dafidi, ọba Jerusalẹmu:
[I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
2 “Asán inú asán!” Oníwàásù náà wí pé, “Asán inú asán! Gbogbo rẹ̀ asán ni.”
I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
3 Kí ni ènìyàn rí jẹ ní èrè lórí gbogbo iṣẹ́ rẹ̀, lórí èyí tí ó ń ṣe wàhálà sí lábẹ́ oòrùn?
(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 Bí ìran kan ti wá ni ìran mìíràn ń kọjá lọ, síbẹ̀ ayé dúró títí láé.
[Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
5 Oòrùn ń ràn, oòrùn sì ń wọ̀, ó sì sáré padà sí ibi tí ó ti yọ.
[Each morning] the sun rises, and [each evening] it sets, and [then] it hurries around to where it started from.
6 Afẹ́fẹ́ ń fẹ́ lọ sí ìhà gúúsù, Ó sì ń fẹ́ yípo sí ìhà àríwá, a sì tún padà sí ọ̀nà rẹ̀.
The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
7 Gbogbo odò ń sàn sí inú Òkun, síbẹ̀síbẹ̀ Òkun kò kún. Níbi tí àwọn odò ti wá, níbẹ̀ ni wọ́n tún padà sí.
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 Ohun gbogbo ni ó ń mú àárẹ̀ wá, ju èyí tí ẹnu le è sọ. Ojú kò tí ì rí ìrírí tí ó tẹ́ ẹ lọ́rùn, bẹ́ẹ̀ ni, etí kò tí ì kún fún gbígbọ́.
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 Ohun tí ó ti wà tẹ́lẹ̀ náà ni yóò sì máa wà, ohun tí a ti ṣe sẹ́yìn òun ni a ó tún máa ṣe padà kò sí ohun tuntun lábẹ́ oòrùn.
[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 Ǹjẹ́ ohun kan wà tí ẹnìkan le è sọ wí pé, “Wò ó! Ohun tuntun ni èyí”? Ó ti wà tẹ́lẹ̀ rí ní ọjọ́ tó ti pẹ́, o ti wà ṣáájú tiwa.
Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
11 Kò sí ìrántí ohun ìṣáájú bẹ́ẹ̀ ni ìrántí kì yóò sí fún ohun ìkẹyìn tí ń bọ̀ lọ́dọ̀ àwọn tí ń bọ̀ ní ìgbà ìkẹyìn.
[People] do not remember the things [that happened] long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now.
12 Èmi, Oniwaasu ti jẹ ọba lórí Israẹli ní Jerusalẹmu rí.
I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
13 Mo fi àsìkò mi sílẹ̀ láti kọ́ àti láti ṣe àwárí pẹ̀lú ọgbọ́n, gbogbo ohun tí ó ń ṣẹlẹ̀ lábẹ́ ọ̀run. Háà! Ẹrù wúwo tí Ọlọ́run ti gbé lé àwọn ènìyàn.
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 Èmi ti rí ohun gbogbo tí ó ń ṣẹlẹ̀ lábẹ́ oòrùn, gbogbo rẹ̀ kò ní ìtumọ̀ bí ẹní gbìyànjú àti mú afẹ́fẹ́ ni.
It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
15 Ohun tí ó ti wọ́ kò le è ṣe é tọ́ mọ́, ohun tí kò sí kò le è ṣe é kà.
[Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
16 Mo rò nínú ara mi, “Wò ó, mo ti dàgbà, ọgbọ́n mi sì ti pọ̀ ju ti ẹnikẹ́ni tí ó ti ṣe alákòóso Jerusalẹmu síwájú mi lọ, mo ti ní ìrírí púpọ̀ nípa ọgbọ́n àti ìmọ̀.”
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 Nígbà náà ni mo fi ara jì láti ní ìmọ̀ nípa ọgbọ́n, àti pàápàá àìgbọ́n àti òmùgọ̀, ṣùgbọ́n mo rí, wí pé èyí pẹ̀lú bí ẹni ń gbìyànjú àti mú afẹ́fẹ́ ni.
[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 Nítorí pé ọgbọ́n púpọ̀ ìbànújẹ́ púpọ̀ ní ń mú wá, bí ìmọ̀ bá sì ṣe pọ̀ tó náà ni ìbànújẹ́ ń pọ̀ tó.
The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
