1I vidjeh: ima još jedno zlo pod suncem i teško tišti ljude.
1There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is frequent among men:
2Nekomu Bog udijeli bogatstvo i blago i počasti te ima sve što mu duša poželi, ali mu ne udijeli da to i uživa, nego uživa tuđinac. To je ispraznost i grdna nevolja.
2one to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and a sore evil.
3I velim: bolje je nedonošče od onoga koji bi rodio stotinu djece i živio mnogo godina, a sam se ne bi naužio dobra niti bi imao pogreba;
3If a man beget a hundred [sons], and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, but his soul be not filled with good, and also he have no burial, I say an untimely birth is better than he.
4jer je nedonošče uzalud došlo i u tamu otišlo i ime mu je tamom pokriveno;
4For it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness;
5sunca čak ne vidje niti spozna - a spokojnije je od onoga.
5moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun: this hath rest rather than the other.
6Pa kad bi takav živio i dvije tisuće godina, a svojeg dobra ne bi uživao, zar ne odlaze obojica jednako na isto mjesto?
6Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
7Čovjek se trudi samo da bi jeo, a želudac njegov nikad da se nasiti.
7All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8Jer po čemu je mudrac bolji od luđaka i što reći o siromahu koji se umije držati pred ljudima?
8For what advantage hath the wise above the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
9Bolje je očima vidjeti nego duhom lutati. I to je ispraznost i pusta tlapnja.
9Better is the seeing of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
10Što je već bilo, ime ima; i zna se što je čovjek; i on se ne može parbiti s jačim od sebe.
10That which is hath already been named; and what man is, is known, and that he cannot contend with him that is mightier than he.
11Što više riječi, to veća ispraznost svega, i koja je od toga korist čovjeku?
11For there are many things that increase vanity: what is man advantaged?
12Tko zna što je dobro čovjeku u životu njegovu, za ono malo dana koje tako isprazno živi, koji mu prolaze kao sjena? Tko će kazati čovjeku što će biti poslije njega pod suncem?
12For who knoweth what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell man what shall be after him under the sun?