Ecclesiastes 1

divre qohelet ben-david melekh birushalai͏m

The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem.

havel havalim amar qohelet havel havalim hakkol havel

Utter futility!—said Koheleth— Utter futility! All is futile!

mah-yyitron la'adam bekhol-amalo sheyya'amol takhat hashamesh

What real value is there for humankind In all the gains they make beneath the sun?

dor holekh vedor ba veha'arets le'olam omadet

One generation goes, another comes, But the earth remains the same forever.

vezarakh hashemesh uva hashamesh ve'el-meqomo sho'ef zoreakh hu sham

The sun rises, and the sun sets— And glides back to where it rises.

holekh el-darom vesovev el-tsafon sovev sovev holekh haruakh ve'al-sevivotayw shav haruakh

Southward blowing, Turning northward, Ever turning blows the wind; On its rounds the wind returns.

kol-hannekhalim holekhim el-hayyam vehayyam enennu male el-meqom shehannekhalim holekhim sham hem shavim lalakhet

All streams flow into the sea, Yet the sea is never full; To the place [from] which they flow The streams flow back again.

kol-haddevarim yege'im lo-yukhal ish ledabber lo-tisba ayin lirot velo-timmale ozen mishemoa

All such things are wearisome: No one can ever state them; The eye never has enough of seeing, Nor the ear enough of hearing.

mah-shehayah hu sheyyihyeh umah-shenna'asah hu sheyye'aseh ve'en kol-khadash takhat hashamesh

Only that shall happen That has happened, Only that occur That has occurred; There is nothing new Beneath the sun!

yesh davar sheyyomar re'eh-zeh khadash hu kevar hayah le'olamim asher hayah millefanenu

Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say, “Look, this one is new!”—it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us.

en zikhron larishonim vegam la'akharonim sheyyihyu lo-yihyeh lahem zikkaron im sheyyihyu la'akharonah

The earlier ones are not remembered; so too those that will occur later will no more be remembered than those that will occur at the very end.

ani qohelet hayiti melekh al-yisra'el birushalai͏m

I, Koheleth, was king in Jerusalem over Israel.

venatatti et-libbi lidrosh velatur bakhokhmah al kol-asher na'asah takhat hashamayim hu inyan ra natan elohim livne ha'adam la'anot bo

I set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom all that happens under the sun.—An unhappy business, that, which God gave mortals to be concerned with!

ra'iti et-kol-hamma'asim shenna'asu takhat hashamesh vehinneh hakkol hevel ure'ut ruakh

I observed all the happenings beneath the sun, and I found that all is futile and pursuit of wind:

me'uvvat lo-yukhal litqon vekhesron lo-yukhal lehimmanot

A twisted thing that cannot be made straight, A lack that cannot be made good.

dibbarti ani im-libbi lemor ani hinneh higdalti vehosafti khokhmah al kol-asher-hayah lefanay al-yerushalai͏m velibbi ra'ah harbeh khokhmah vada'at

I said to myself: “Here I have grown richer and wiser than any who ruled before me over Jerusalem, and my mind has zealously absorbed wisdom and learning.”

va'ettenah libbi lada'at khokhmah veda'at holelot vesikhlut yadati sheggam-zeh hu rayon ruakh

And so I set my mind to appraise wisdom and to appraise madness and folly. And I learned—that this too was pursuit of wind:

ki berov khokhmah rov-ka'as veyosif da'at yosif makhov

For as wisdom grows, vexation grows; To increase learning is to increase heartache.