Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 1

New Jerusalem Bible	Nova Vulgata
¹ Composition of Qoheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem.	¹ Verba Ecclesiastes filii David regis Ierusalem.”
² Sheer futility, Qoheleth says. Sheer futility: everything is futile!	² “ Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes, vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas ”.
³ What profit can we show for al our toil, toiling under the sun?	³ Quid lucri est homini de universo labore suo, quo laborat sub sole?
⁴ A generation goes, a generation comes, yet the earth stands firm for ever.	⁴ Generatio praeterit, et generatio advenit, terra autem in aeternum stat.
⁵ The sun rises, the sun sets; then to its place it speeds and there it rises.	⁵ Oritur sol, et occidit sol et ad locum suum anhelat ibique renascitur.
⁶ Southward goes the wind, then turns to the north; it turns and turns again; then back to its circling goesthe wind.	⁶ Gyrat per meridiem et flectitur ad aquilonem, lustrans universa in circuitu pergit spiritus et in circulos suos revertitur.
⁷ Into the sea go al the rivers, and yet the sea is never fil ed, and stil to their goal the rivers go.	⁷ Omnia flumina pergunt ad mare, et mare non redundat; ad locum, unde exeunt, flumina illuc revertuntur in cursu suo.
⁸ Al things are wearisome. No one can say that eyes have not had enough of seeing, ears their fil ofhearing.	⁸ Cunctae res difficiles; non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur.
⁹ What was, wil be again, what has been done, wil be done again, and there is nothing new under thesun!	⁹ Quod fuit, ipsum est, quod futurum est. Quod factum est, ipsum est, quod faciendum est:
¹⁰ Take anything which people acclaim as being new: it existed in the centuries preceding us.	¹⁰ nihil sub sole novum. Si de quadam re dicitur: “ Ecce hoc novum est ”, iam enim praecessit in saeculis, quae fuerunt ante nos.
¹¹ No memory remains of the past, and so it wil be for the centuries to come -- they will not beremembered by their successors.	¹¹ Non est priorum memoria, sed nec eorum quidem, qui postea futuri sunt, erit recordatio apud eos, qui futuri sunt in novissimo.
¹² I, Qoheleth, have reigned over Israel in Jerusalem.	¹² Ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israel in Ierusalem
¹³ Wisely I have applied myself to investigation and exploration of everything that happens under heaven.What a wearisome task God has given humanity to keep us busy!	¹³ et proposui in animo meoquaerere et investigare sapienter de omnibus, quae fiunt sub sole. Hancoccupationem pessimam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea.
¹⁴ I have seen everything that is done under the sun: how futile it al is, mere chasing after the wind!	¹⁴ Vidicuncta, quae fiunt sub sole; et ecce universa vanitas et afflictio spiritus.
¹⁵ What is twisted cannot be straightened, what is not there cannot be counted.	¹⁵ Quod est curvum, rectum fieri non potest; et, quod deficiens est, numerari non potest.
¹⁶ I thought to myself: I have acquired a greater stock of wisdom than anyone before me in Jerusalem. Imyself have mastered every kind of wisdom and science.	¹⁶ Locutus sum ego in corde meo dicens: “ Ecce ego magnificavi et apposuisapientiam super omnes, qui fuerunt ante me in Ierusalem; et mens meacontemplata est multam sapientiam et scientiam ”.
¹⁷ I have applied myself to understanding philosophy and science, stupidity and fol y, and I now realisethat all this too is chasing after the wind.	¹⁷ Dedique cor meum, utscirem sapientiam et scientiam, insipientiam et stultitiam. Et agnovi quod inhis quoque esset afflictio spiritus, eo quod
¹⁸ Much wisdom, much grief; the more knowledge, the more sorrow.	¹⁸ in multa sapientia multus sit maeror; et, qui addit scientiam, addit et laborem.