¹There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:

¹Je zlo, ki sem ga videl pod solncem, in težko tlači ljudi:

²a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

²Bog podeli komu bogastva in zakladov in časti, da ne manjka duši njegovi ničesar, karkoli bi si želel: a Bog mu ne da oblasti, da bi to užival, ampak tujec bo užil! To je ničemurnost in huda bolečina.

³If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn child is better than he:

³Ako bi kdo rodil sto otrok in živel mnogo let, kakorkoli veliko bi bilo let njegovih število, a duša njegova bi se ne nasitila dobrega in nazadnje bi mu ne napravili pogreba, tedaj rečem: Izpovitek je srečnejši od njega!

⁴for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

⁴Ker ta pride v ničevosti in se odpravi v temi in njegovo ime ostane skrito v temi;

⁵Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.

⁵solnca tudi ni videl, ne česa spoznal. Ta počiva bolje nego on.

⁶Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don’t all go to one place?

⁶In ako bi bil tudi dvakrat tisoč let živel, pa ne videl nič dobrega: ne gre li vse v en kraj?

⁷All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

⁷Ves trud človekov je za usta njegova, a duša se mu vendar ne nasiti!

⁸For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living?

⁸Ker kaj ima modri več nego bedak? kaj ubožec, ki se ume vesti pred živečimi?

⁹Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

⁹Bolje, da oči kaj vidijo, nego da želje okoli tavajo. Tudi to je ničemurnost in lovljenje vetra.

¹⁰Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.

¹⁰Kar je postalo, je bilo že zdavnaj imenovano. In Bogu je znano, kaj bode človek, in ta se ne more pravdati z Onim, ki je močnejši od njega.

¹¹For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man?

¹¹In ker je mnogo besed, ki pomnožujejo ničemurnost, kaj ima dobička človek od tega?Kajti kdo ve, kaj je dobro človeku v življenju, vse dni ničemurnega življenja njegovega, ki jih preživi kakor senca? Kajti kdo more povedati človeku, kaj bode za njim pod solncem?

¹²For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

¹²Kajti kdo ve, kaj je dobro človeku v življenju, vse dni ničemurnega življenja njegovega, ki jih preživi kakor senca? Kajti kdo more povedati človeku, kaj bode za njim pod solncem?