Everything Is Meaningless
1These are the words of the Teacher. He was the son of David. He was also the king in Jerusalem.
2“Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Everything is completely meaningless!
Nothing has any meaning.”
3What do people get for all their work?
Why do they work so hard on this earth?
4People come and people go.
But the earth remains forever.
5The sun rises. Then it sets.
And then it hurries back to where it rises.
6The wind blows to the south.
Then it turns to the north.
Around and around it goes.
It always returns to where it started.
7Every stream flows into the ocean.
But the ocean never gets full.
The streams return
to the place they came from.
8All things are tiresome.
They are more tiresome than anyone can say.
But our eyes never see enough of anything.
Our ears never hear enough.
9Everything that has ever been will come back again.
Everything that has ever been done will be done again.
Nothing is new on earth.
10There isn’t anything about which someone can say,
“Look! Here’s something new.”
It was already here long ago.
It was here before we were.
11No one remembers the people of long ago.
Even those who haven’t been born yet
won’t be remembered
by those who will be born after them.
Wisdom Is Meaningless
12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13I decided to study things carefully. I used my wisdom to check everything out. I looked into everything that is done on earth. What a heavy load God has put on human beings! 14I’ve seen what is done on this earth. All of it is meaningless. It’s like chasing the wind.
15People can’t straighten things that are crooked.
They can’t count things that don’t even exist.
16I said to myself, “Look, I’ve now grown wiser than anyone who ruled over Jerusalem in the past. I have a lot of wisdom and knowledge.” 17Then I used my mind to understand what it really means to be wise. And I wanted to know what foolish pleasure is all about. But I found out that it’s also like chasing the wind.
18A lot of human wisdom leads to a lot of sorrow.
More knowledge only brings more sadness.
Livet synes uden mening
1Denne bog er af Prædikeren, som var søn af David og konge i Jerusalem.
2Der er ingen mening, livet er uden mening.
Det hele er meningsløst.
3Hvad får man ud af al sin møje?
Alt det, man her i livet må døje?
4Generationer kommer og går,
men verden kører videre og består.
5Solen står op, og solen går ned
dag efter dag i uendelighed.
6Vinden blæser mod syd og skifter om i nord,
det hele kører rundt, men ændrer ikke spor.
7Floder hælder vand i havet uden stop,
alligevel bliver havet aldrig fyldt op.
Vandet fordamper og kommer tilbage til floden,
sådan kører det bare rundt på hele kloden.
8Alting er så kedsommeligt,
fordi det er så forudsigeligt.
Det er altid det samme, man ser,
altid det samme, man hører.
9Hvad der før er sket, vil ske igen,
Hvad der før er gjort, vil blive gjort igen.
Der er intet nyt under solen.
10Der er intet nyt, der kommer op i nutiden,
som ikke også er sket i fortiden.
11De gamles heltemod huskes ikke mere,
i fremtiden vil nutiden ikke eksistere.
Menneskelig visdom kommer til kort
12Jeg, Prædikeren, var konge over Israel og boede i Jerusalem. 13Jeg besluttede mig for grundigt at udforske alt, hvad der foregår på jorden, og jeg kom til det resultat, at det er et træls og slidsomt liv, Gud har givet menneskene.
14Jeg så, at alt, hvad folk foretager sig, er omsonst, det er som at bygge luftkasteller. 15Man kan ikke gøre det falske ægte, og man kan ikke afhjælpe alle mangler.
16Jeg sagde til mig selv: „Jeg har større viden end nogen anden konge før mig i Jerusalem. Jeg er den klogeste og mest intelligente.” 17Derfor har jeg tænkt meget over fordelen ved at have visdom og kundskab frem for at være dum og uvidende. Men jeg opdagede, at selv det var formålsløst. 18Jo mere visdom, des større lidelse, jo mere kundskab, des større smerte.
