Ecclesiastes 1

VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Verba Ecclesiastæ, filii David, regis Jerusalem.	1 The words of David's son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem:
2 Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes ; vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.	2 Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
3 Quid habet amplius homo de universo labore suo quo laborat sub sole ?	3 What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?
4 Generatio præterit, et generatio advenit ; terra autem in æternum stat.	4 One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.
5 Oritur sol et occidit, et ad locum suum revertitur ; ibique renascens,	5 The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises.
6 gyrat per meridiem, et flectitur ad aquilonem. Lustrans universa in circuitu pergit spiritus, et in circulos suos revertitur.	6 Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.
7 Omnia flumina intrant in mare, et mare non redundat ; ad locum unde exeunt flumina revertuntur ut iterum fluant.	7 All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going.
8 Cunctæ res difficiles ; non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur.	8 All speech is labored; there is nothing man can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 Quid est quod fuit ? Ipsum quod futurum est. Quid est quod factum est ? Ipsum quod faciendum est.	9 What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.
10 Nihil sub sole novum, nec valet quisquam dicere : Ecce hoc recens est : jam enim præcessit in sæculis quæ fuerunt ante nos.	10 Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us.
11 Non est priorum memoria ; sed nec eorum quidem quæ postea futura sunt erit recordatio apud eos qui futuri sunt in novissimo.	11 There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.
12 Ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israël in Jerusalem ;	12 I, Qoheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem,
13 et proposui in animo meo quærere et investigare sapienter de omnibus quæ fiunt sub sole. Hanc occupationem pessimam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea.	13 and I applied my mind to search and investigate in wisdom all things that are done under the sun. A thankless task God has appointed for men to be busied about.
14 Vidi cuncta quæ fiunt sub sole, et ecce universa vanitas et afflictio spiritus.	14 I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind.
15 Perversi difficile corriguntur, et stultorum infinitus est numerus.	15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is missing cannot be supplied.
16 Locutus sum in corde meo, dicens : Ecce magnus effectus sum, et præcessi omnes sapientia qui fuerunt ante me in Jerusalem ; et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter, et didici.	16 Though I said to myself, "Behold, I have become great and stored up wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has broad experience of wisdom and knowledge";
17 Dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam atque doctrinam, erroresque et stultitiam ; et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor et afflictio spiritus :	17 yet when I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly, I learned that this also is a chase after wind.
18 eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio ; et qui addit scientiam, addit et laborem.	18 For in much wisdom there is much sorrow, and he who stores up knowledge stores up grief.