¹I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

¹Tad rekoh u srcu svom: "Daj da okušam užitak i vidim što naslada pruža" - ali gle: i to je ispraznost!

²I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

²O smijehu rekoh: "Ludost je"; o užitku: "Čemu valja?"

³I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

³Odlučih tijelo krijepiti vinom, a srce posvetiti mudrosti; poželjeh prigrliti i ludost, kako bih spoznao usrećava li ljude ono što pod nebesima čine za izbrojenih dana svojega života.

⁴I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:

⁴Učinih velika djela: sazidah sebi palače, zasadih vinograde;

⁵I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:

⁵uredih perivoje i voćnjake, nasadih u njima voćke svakojake.

⁶I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:

⁶Načinih jezera da plodna sadišta natapam.

⁷I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:

⁷Nakupovah robova i robinja, imadoh i sluge domaće, a tako i stada krupne i sitne stoke više no itko prije mene u Jeruzalemu.

⁸I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

⁸Nagomilah srebro i zlato i blago kraljeva i pokrajina, nabavih pjevače i pjevačice i svakoga raskošja ljudskog, sve škrinju na škrinji.

⁹So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

⁹I postadoh tako velik, veći no bilo tko prije mene u Jeruzalemu; a nije me ni mudrost moja ostavila.

¹⁰And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.

¹⁰I što god su mi oči poželjele, nisam im uskratio, niti branih srcu svojemu kakva veselja, već se srce moje veselilo svakom trudu mojem, i takva bi nagrada svakom mojem naporu.

¹¹Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

¹¹A onda razmotrih sva svoja djela, sve napore što uložih da do njih dođem - i gle, sve je to opet ispraznost i pusta tlapnja! I ništa nema valjano pod suncem.

¹²And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.

¹²Okrenuh zatim misao svoju mudrosti, gluposti i ludosti. Što, na priliku, čini kraljev nasljednik? Ono što je već učinjeno.

¹³Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹³I spoznadoh da je bolja mudrost od ludosti, kao što je svjetlost bolja od tame.

¹⁴The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁴Mudracu su oči u glavi, a bezumnik luta u tami. Ali također znam da obojicu stiže ista kob.

¹⁵Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

¹⁵Zato rekoh u sebi: "Kakva je sudbina luđaku, takva je i meni. Čemu onda žudjeti za mudrošću?" I rekoh u srcu: "I to je ispraznost!"

¹⁶For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

¹⁶Jer trajna spomena nema ni mudru ni bezumniku: obojicu će poslije nekog vremena prekriti zaborav! I, jao, mudrac mora umrijeti kao i bezumnik.

¹⁷Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

¹⁷Omrznuh život, jer mi se učini mučnim sve što se zbiva pod suncem: sve je ispraznost i pusta tlapnja.

¹⁸Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

¹⁸Zamrzih sve za što sam se pod suncem trudio i što sad ostavljam svome nasljedniku.

¹⁹And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.

¹⁹Tko zna hoće li on biti mudar ili lud? Pa ipak on će biti gospodar sve moje muke u koju uložih sav svoj napor i mudrost pod suncem. I to je ispraznost.

²⁰Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.

²⁰I stao sam srcem očajavati zbog velikog napora kojim sam se trudio pod suncem.

²¹For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²¹Jer čovjek se trudi mudro i umješno i uspješno, pa sve to mora ostaviti u baštinu drugomu koji se oko toga nije uopće trudio. I to je ispraznost i velika nevolja.

²²For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

²²Jer što on dobiva za sav svoj napor i trud koji je pod suncem podnio?

²³For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

²³Jer svi su njegovi dani doista mukotrpni, poslovi mu puni brige; čak ni noću ne miruje srce njegovo. I to je ispraznost.

²⁴There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

²⁴Nema čovjeku druge sreće već jesti i piti i biti zadovoljan svojim poslom. I to je, vidim, dar Božje ruke.

²⁵For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?

²⁵Jer tko bi mogao jesti, tko li nezadovoljan biti, osim po njemu.

²⁶For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

²⁶Mudrost, spoznaju, radost on daruje onom tko mu je po volji, a grešniku nameće zadaću da sabira i skuplja za onoga tko je po volji Bogu. I to je ispraznost i pusta tlapnja.