Ecclesiastes 1 глава

Ecclesiastes
English Standard Version → New Living Translation

The words of the Preacher,a the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

These are the words of the Teacher,a King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.

Vanityb of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?

A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.

The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastensc to the place where it rises.

The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.

The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.

The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.

All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.

Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.

There is no remembrance of former things,d nor will there be any remembrance of later thingse yet to be among those who come after.

We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem.

And I applied my heartf to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanityg and a striving after wind.h

I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless — like chasing the wind.

What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.

I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”

And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

« 31 глава 2 глава »