Verba Ecclesiastæ, filii David, regis Jerusalem.

The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.

Words of the Spokesman, king David’s son, that reigned once at Jerusalem.

Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes; vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.

Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.

A shadow’s shadow, he tells us, a shadow’s shadow; a world of shadows!

Quid habet amplius homo de universo labore suo quo laborat sub sole?

What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the sun?

How is man the better for all this toiling of his, here under the sun?

Generatio præterit, et generatio advenit; terra autem in æternum stat.

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth standeth for ever.

Age succeeds age, and the world goes on unaltered.

Oritur sol et occidit, et ad locum suum revertitur; ibique renascens,

The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and there rising again,

Sun may rise and sun may set, but ever it goes back and is reborn.

gyrat per meridiem, et flectitur ad aquilonem. Lustrans universa in circuitu pergit spiritus, et in circulos suos revertitur.

Maketh his round by the south, and turneth again to the north: the spirit goeth forward surveying all places round about, and returneth to his circuits.

Round to the south it moves, round to the north it turns; the wind, too, though it makes the round of the world, goes back to the beginning of its round at last.

Omnia flumina intrant in mare, et mare non redundat; ad locum unde exeunt flumina revertuntur ut iterum fluant.

All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow: unto the place from whence the rivers come, they return, to flow again.

All the rivers flow into the sea, yet never the sea grows full; back to their springs they find their way, and must be flowing still.

Cunctæ res difficiles; non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur.

All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing.

Weariness, all weariness; who shall tell the tale? Eye looks on unsatisfied; ear listens, ill content.

Quid est quod fuit? Ipsum quod futurum est. Quid est quod factum est? Ipsum quod faciendum est.

What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is it that hath been done? the same that shall be done.

Ever that shall be that ever has been, that which has happened once shall happen again;

Nihil sub sole novum, nec valet quisquam dicere: Ecce hoc recens est: jam enim præcessit in sæculis quæ fuerunt ante nos.

Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: Behold this is new: for it hath already gone before in the ages that were before us.

there can be nothing new, here under the sun. Never man calls a thing new, but it is something already known to the ages that went before us;

Non est priorum memoria; sed nec eorum quidem quæ postea futura sunt erit recordatio apud eos qui futuri sunt in novissimo.

There is no remembrance of former things: nor indeed of those things which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance with them that shall be in the latter end.

only we have no record of older days. So, believe me, the fame of to-morrow’s doings will be forgotten by the men of a later time.

Ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israël in Jerusalem;

I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem,

I was a king in my day, I, the Spokesman; Israel my realm, Jerusalem my capital.

et proposui in animo meo quærere et investigare sapienter de omnibus quæ fiunt sub sole. Hanc occupationem pessimam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea.

And I proposed in my mind to seek and search out wisely concerning all things that are done under the sun. This painful occupation hath God given to the children of men, to be exercised therein.

And it was my resolve to search deep and find out the meaning of all that men do, here under the sun; all that curse of busy toil which God has given to the sons of Adam for their task.

Vidi cuncta quæ fiunt sub sole, et ecce universa vanitas et afflictio spiritus.

I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity, and vexation of spirit.

All that men do beneath the sun I marked, and found it was but frustration and lost labour, all of it;

Perversi difficile corriguntur, et stultorum infinitus est numerus.

The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is infinite.

there was no curing men’s cross-grained nature, no reckoning up their follies.

Locutus sum in corde meo, dicens: Ecce magnus effectus sum, et præcessi omnes sapientia qui fuerunt ante me in Jerusalem; et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter, et didici.

I have spoken in my heart, saying: Behold I am become great, and have gone beyond all in wisdom, that were before me in Jerusalem: and my mind hath contemplated many things wisely, and I have learned.

I at least (so I flattered myself) have risen above the rest; a king so wise never reigned at Jerusalem; here is a mind has reflected much, and much learned.

Dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam atque doctrinam, erroresque et stultitiam; et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor et afflictio spiritus:

And I have given my heart to know prudence, and learning, and errors, and folly: and I have perceived that in these also there was labour, and vexation of spirit,

And therewith I applied my mind to a new study; what meant wisdom and learning, what meant ignorance and folly? And I found that this too was labour lost;

eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio; et qui addit scientiam, addit et laborem.

Because in much wisdom there is much indignation: and he that addeth knowledge, addeth also labour.

much wisdom, much woe; who adds to learning, adds to the load we bear.