¹Besede Propovednika, sinu Davidovega, kralja v Jeruzalemu.

¹The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

²Ničemurnost nečimurna! pravi Propovednik; ničemurnost ničemurna, vse je ničemurno!

²“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

³Kaj ima dobička človek od vsega truda svojega, s katerim se trudi pod solncem?

³What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?

⁴Rod mineva, rod prihaja, a zemlja vedno ostaja.

⁴One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.

⁵In solnce vzhaja in solnce zahaja in hiti k mestu svojemu, odkoder izhaja.

⁵The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises.

⁶Veter gre proti poldnevu in se obrača proti polnoči in kroži in kroži, in krožitve svoje vedno ponavlja veter.

⁶The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses.

⁷Vse reke teko v morje, in morje se ne prepolni; v kraj, kamor teko reke, tja vedno in vedno teko.

⁷All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.

⁸Vse stvari so trudapolne: človek ne more tega dopovedati; oko se ne nasiti gledanja, ne uho poslušanja.

⁸All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹Kar je bilo, bode zopet, in kar se je storilo, se bo zopet storilo, in nič novega ni pod solncem.

⁹That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

¹⁰Je li kaj, o čemer pravijo: Glej, to je novo? Zdavnaj je že bilo v vekih, ki so bili pred nami.

¹⁰Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.

¹¹Ni spomina prejšnjih rodov, in prihodnjim, ki še bodo, tudi ne bo spomina pri tistih, ki pozneje nastanejo.

¹¹There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.

¹²Jaz, Propovednik, sem bil kralj nad Izraelom v Jeruzalemu.

¹²I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³In obrnil sem srce svoje v to, da bi z modrostjo preiskoval in zasledoval vse, kar se godi pod nebom: težko opravilo, ki ga je naložil Bog sinom človeškim, da se ž njim ukvarjajo.

¹³I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “Elohim.” has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

¹⁴Videl sem vse dejanje, ki se godi pod solncem, in glej, vse je ničemurnost in lovljenje vetra.

¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹⁵Kar je krivo, se ne more zravnati, in česar ni, se ne more šteti.

¹⁵That which is crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t be counted.

¹⁶Govoril sem v srcu svojem in rekel: Glej, dobil sem veliko modrost in prekosil vse, ki so bili pred menoj v Jeruzalemu, in srce moje je videlo obilost modrosti in spoznanja.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Behold, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷In obrnil sem srce svoje v to, da spoznam modrost in da spoznam nespamet in neumnost: spoznal sem, da je tudi to lovljenje vetra.Zakaj pri mnogi modrosti je mnogo nejevolje, in kdor množi znanje, množi bolečino.

¹⁷I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.

¹⁸Zakaj pri mnogi modrosti je mnogo nejevolje, in kdor množi znanje, množi bolečino.

¹⁸For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.