Nothing Makes Sense
1 When the son of David was king in Jerusalem, he was known to be very wise, and he said:
2 Nothing makes sense!
Everything is nonsense.
I have seen it all—
nothing makes sense!
3 What is there to show
for all of our hard work
here on this earth?
4 People come, and people go,
but still the world
never changes.
5 The sun comes up,
the sun goes down;
it hurries right back
to where it started from.
6 The wind blows south,
the wind blows north;
round and round it blows
over and over again.
7 All rivers empty into the sea,
but it never spills over;
one by one the rivers return
to their source.
8 All of life is far more boring
than words could ever say.
Our eyes and our ears
are never satisfied
with what we see and hear.
9 Everything that happens
has happened before;
nothing is new,
nothing under the sun.
10 Someone might say,
“Here is something new!”
But it happened before,
long before we were born.
11 No one who lived in the past
is remembered anymore,
and everyone yet to be born
will be forgotten too.
It Is Senseless To Be Wise
12 I said these things when I lived in Jerusalem as king of Israel. 13 With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do. 14 I have seen it all, and everything is just as senseless as chasing the wind.
15 If something is crooked,
it can't be made straight;
if something isn't there,
it can't be counted.
16 I said to myself, “You are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in Jerusalem. You are eager to learn, and you have learned a lot.” 17 Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind.
18 The more you know,
the more you hurt;
the more you understand,
the more you suffer.
Avihe omungandjo
1 Inga owo omambo wOmuzuvarise, omuna wa David, ngwa ri ombara mOjerusalem.
2 Avihe omungandjo, omungandjo, Omuzuvarise ma tja nao. Avihe omungandjo, avihe mbi omungandjo! 3 Hapo omundu ma munine po ondjambi yatjike moviungura vye na mongondjero ye aihe yeyuva arihe? 4 Omuhoko u ya na u kapita, nomukwao warwe au ya, nungwari ouye owo u kara omuano umwe uriri. 5 Eyuva ri tja, nari toko, nu tjazumba ari hakahana okuyaruka koṋa ku ri pitira. 6 Ombepo i hinga keyuva kokumuho, nai tanaukire keyuva kokunene amai yende amai tanauka, nai yaruka amai rikondoroka. 7 Ozonḓonḓu azehe ze kahita mokuvare, nungwari oko kaku ura; omeva ye yaruka koṋa ozonḓonḓu ku ze utira, narire tji ya kauta okupupa rukwao. 8 Oviṋa avihe ovikendise, ovikendise tjinene nga omundu tje hi nokusora okuviserekarera. Omeho wetu kamaaye munu okuyenena nga tji ya kowa; nomatwi wetu kamaaye zuu okuyenena nga tji ya pama. 9 Mbya ri po mavi kara po rukwao; mbya tjitirwe mavi tjitwa rukwao; kape notjiṋa otjipe mouye auhe. 10 Hapo pe notjiṋa tjorive omundu tji ma tja tara, ihi otjipe! Otjo tjandje tja ri po rukuru, eṱe ngunda atu hiya kwatwa. 11 Kape nomundu ngu zemburuka imbi mbya tjitirwe moruveze ndwa kapita; nu kape nomundu momayuva wokomurungu ngu maa kazemburuka imbi mbi mavi tjitwa nambano.
Okukondjera ounongo okwo omungandjo
12 Ami, Omuzuvarise, mba ri ombara ya Israel mOjerusalem. 13 Nombatero younongo ami mba kondja okukonḓonona nokurihonga avihe mbi tjitwa mouye mbwi.
Indji oyo ongondjero onḓeu Ndjambi ndja yandja kovandu okukondja na yo. 14 Ami mba muna otjiṋa ngamwa atjihe tji tji tjitwa mouye mbwi, nu tara, avihe ovyo omungandjo, nu ku ri tjimuna okurora okurambera ombepo. 15 Tji tjiri otjinauvi kamaatji ririsiwa otjisemba, nu tji tji he ri po kamaatji yenene okuvarwa.
16 Ami mbe ripura e tja: “Tara, ami mba hara ounongo ounene pu avehe mba honaparere mOjerusalem komurungu wandje; nomutima wandje wa hara ounongo ouingi nondjiviro onyingi.”
17 Ami otji mbe ripura okurihonga ombangu pokati kondjiviro nounongo na pokati kouyova nokuhinozondunge. Nungwari arire tji mba munu kutja ingwi wina oko okurora okurambera ombepo uriri. 18 Tjiri, tji una ounongo tjinene u kara nongurunguse tjinene, nu tji una ondjiviro tjinene u ryamisira ko oruhoze.
