Ûib ge a harebeoǃnâ
1 Nēdi ge Aoǁnâ-aob, Davidi ôab, Jerusalems ǃnâ ge gao-ao ib di mîde:
2 Harebeoǃnâ i ge a,
harebeoǃnâ a tib ge Aoǁnâ-aoba ra mî,
hoa xūn ge a harebeoǃnâ.
3 Tarebe harebesa i khoe-e ūba hâ
ǁî-i di ǀhupuǀhupusens ǃnâ,
ǃhūbaib ai?
4 ǁAeǃgâdi ge hā tsî ra ǃkharu,
xaweb ge ǃhūbaiba ǀamos kōse ra hâhâ.
5 Sores ge ǁhai tsî ra ǂgâ.
Tsîs ge ǁhais go hâ i ǃkhaibǀî ra oa,
ǁkhawa nî sī ǁhaise.
6 ǂOab ge ǃkhawagasǀî
tsî ǀapasǀî ǃgom
tsî ǁkhawa ra oa.
7 Hoaraga ǃāgu ge huribǀî ra dâu,
xaweb ge huriba ǀoa tama hâ.
Tsî gu ge ǃāga hāxu gu go ǃkhaiguǀî ra oa.
8 Hoaraga xūn ge a ǀhupu,
khoe-i xare-i a ǃhoaǂui ǁoas kōse.
Mûdi âda ge mûǂâu tide
tsî ǂgaedi âda ǁnâuǂâu tide.
9 ǀNai ge ī hâ i xūn ge ǁkhawa nî ī.
ǁKhātin ge ǀnai ge dīhe hâ ina
ǁkhawa nîra dīhe;
ǀgui xū-i tsîn ge ǃhūbaib ai ǀasa tama hâ.
10 Xū-e xare hâ i a ǁî-i xats “Mû, nē-i ge ǀasa xū-e” ti mî ǁkhā-e?
Tātsē, ǀnai ge sada ǁaeǃgâs aiǃâ hâ i.
11 ǀNai ge hâ i xūn di ǂâiǂâisen-i ge a ǀkhai,
ǁkhāti ǁnān ǃgoaxaǁaeb din
tsî ǁîna nî saon di-i on ge a ǀkhai.
Aoǁnâ-aob di hōǃâs
12 Tita, Aoǁnâ-aota ge Israelǁaes ǂama Jerusalems ǃnâ ge gao-ao i. 13 Tita ge hoaraga xūn ǃhūbaib ai ra īna ta nî ôaǃnâ tsî ǂan ǃkhaisa ge mîǀgui.
Elob ge kaise ǀgaisa ǃgomma khoesib ai ge ǁgui. 14 Hoaraga sîsengu ǁîn ge ǃhūbaib ai dīga ta ge ge mû; ǁîn ge harebeoǃnâ tsî ǂoaba saurus khami ī. 15 Gama xū-ets ge a ǂhanuǂhanu ǁoa tsîts ge ǁkhāti ǀkhai a xū-e a ǃgôa ǁoa.
16 Tita ge aitsama gere mîbasen kaisis tsî gā-aisis ǃnâ ta Jerusalems ǂama ge tita aiǃâ gao hâ in hoan ǂamai nî ǀarosen ǃkhaisa. Tita ge gā-aisib tsî ǂans tsîn amab ǃnâ tare-e ra ǂâibasen ǃkhaisa ge hōǃâ. 17 Tita ge ge mîǀgui gā-aisib, ǃkhausib tsî gâsiba ta nî ǂansa, xawe ta ge ge ǂan ǁîs ǂoaba saurus khami īsa. 18 ǃNāsa gā-aisibats ra ūhâ khamib ge ǃnāsa ǃoaba ra hâ; tsî ǂans ra ǀarosens kōseb ge tsûb ona ra ǀarosen.
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.
