Ayihe oyowala
1 Ndhika oohapu dhomuuvithi, omuna gwaDavid, ngoka a li omukwaniilwa muJerusalem.
2 Omuuvithi ota ti: “Ayihe oyowala, eeno, ayihe oyowalawala!”
3 Omuntu oti ilikolele shike mokwiipyakidhila kwe akuhe kohi yetango? 4 Epipi limwe tali ka pita nekwawo otali ya, ihe evi otali kala sigo aluhe. 5 Etango otali piti, netango otali ningine nokushuna ishewe pehala mpoka hali pitile. 6 Ombepo otayi pepe yu uka kuumbugantu notayi ka galukila kuumbangalantu; otayi idhingoloka aluhe nokugalukila komakundukilo gayo. 7 Omilonga adhihe otadhi tondokele mefuta, ihe efuta itali udha nando; kehala hoka omilonga tadhi tondokele, otadhi tondokele ko aluhe. 8 Iinima ayihe oyi na eipyakidhilo nokape na omuntu ta vulu oku shi popya. Eho ihali kuta okutala, kwo okutsi ihaku vulwa okupulakena. 9 Shoka sha li ko, otashi ka kala ko ishewe; shoka sha ningwa, otashi ka ningwa natango. 10 Kohi yetango kaku na sha taku tiwa: “Tala utale, shika oshipeepee!” Oko sha li nale muuyuni waakulu yonale. 11 Kaku na ondhimbuluko yasha yootatekulu, nomapipi ngoka tage ya, itaga dhimbulukiwa kungoka taga ka kala ko ohugunina.
Okulalakanena owino itaku eta elago
12 Ngame omuuvithi onda li omukwaniilwa gwaIsrael muJerusalem. 13 Ondu ukitha omwenyo gwandje kekonakono lyuunongo nokudhiladhila ayihe mbyoka tayi ningwa kohi yegulu. Shika osho oshinakugwanithwa oshidhigu Kalunga e shi pe aana yaantu, ya se oshimpwiyu nasho. 14 Onda mono iilonga ayihe mbyoka tayi ningwa kohi yetango; ayihe oyowala nokutidha ombepo. 15 Shoka sha goyoka, itashi vulu okuuthwa, naashoka shaa po, itashi vulu okuyalulwa.
16 Ondi ipopile nda ti: “Tala, onda koko nonda likola aluhe owino oyindji ndi vule ayehe mboka ya tetekelele ndje okulela muJerusalem, nomwenyo gwandje ogwa mono owino nuunongo.” 17 Ihe sho nda yelutha omwenyo gwandje, ndi ilonge okutseya owino nuunongo nokuuva ko uugoya nuusama, onde shi dhimbulula kutya nani osho okutidha ombepo. 18 Oshoka mowino oyindji omo mu na uupyakadhi owindji naangoka ti indjipaleke uunongo, oti indjipalitha uuwehame.
Life Is Useless
1 These are the words of the Philosopher, David's son, who was king in Jerusalem.
2 It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless. 3 You spend your life working, laboring, and what do you have to show for it? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same. 5 The sun still rises, and it still goes down, going wearily back to where it must start all over again. 6 The wind blows south, the wind blows north—round and round and back again. 7 Every river flows into the sea, but the sea is not yet full. The water returns to where the rivers began, and starts all over again. 8 Everything leads to weariness—a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough. 9 What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world. 10 “Look,” they say, “here is something new!” But no, it has all happened before, long before we were born. 11 No one remembers what has happened in the past, and no one in days to come will remember what happens between now and then.
The Philosopher's Experience
12 I, the Philosopher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I determined that I would examine and study all the things that are done in this world.
God has laid a miserable fate upon us. 14 I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind. 15 You can't straighten out what is crooked; you can't count things that aren't there.
16 I told myself, “I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.” 17 I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness, wisdom and madness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind. 18 The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts.
