Ɔsɛnkafoɔ 1 – ASCB & NIRV

Asante Twi Contemporary Bible

Ɔsɛnkafoɔ 1:1-18

Biribiara Yɛ Adehuhuo

1Yeinom ne nsɛm a Ɔsɛnkafoɔ, ɔhene Dawid babarima a ɔyɛ ɔhene wɔ Yerusalem seɛ:

2“Ahuhudeɛ! Ahuhudeɛ!”

Ɔsɛnkafoɔ no na ɔseɛ.

“Ahuhudeɛ mu ahuhudeɛ

Biribiara yɛ ahuhudeɛ.”

3Ɛdeɛn na onipa nya firi nʼadwumayɛ nyinaa mu?

Deɛn na ɔnya firi deɛ enti ɔkum ne ho yɛ no awia so no?

4Awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ ba na ɛkɔ,

nanso asase tim hɔ daa.

5Owia pue na owia kɔtɔ,

na ɛyɛ ntɛm kɔ deɛ ɛpue firiiɛ hɔ.

6Mframa bɔ kɔ anafoɔ fam

na ɛdane hwɛ atifi fam;

ɛkyinkyini kɔ baabiara

na ɛsane bɔ fa ne kwan so.

7Nsubɔntene nyinaa tene kɔgu ɛpo mu,

nanso ɛpo nyɛ ma da.

Baabi a nsubɔntene no firie no

ɛhɔ na wɔsane kɔ bio.

8Biribiara yɛ ɔbrɛ

a ɛboro deɛ obi bɛka soɔ.

Ani nhwɛ adeɛ nwie da

na aso nso ntie nsɛm mma ɛmmu so da.

9Deɛ aba no bɛba bio,

deɛ wɔayɛ no, wɔbɛyɛ bio;

adeɛ foforɔ biara nni owia yi ase.

10Biribi wɔ hɔ a wɔbɛtumi aka wɔ ho sɛ:

“Hwɛ! Yei yɛ ade foforɔ” anaa?

Ɛwɔ hɔ dada firi tete nteredee;

ɛwɔ hɔ ansa na wɔwoo yɛn.

11Wɔnnkae tetefoɔ no,

na wɔn a wɔnnya nnwoo wɔn no nso

wɔn a wɔbɛdi wɔn akyi no

renkae wɔn.

Nimdeɛ Yɛ Ahuhudeɛ

12Me, Ɔsɛnkafoɔ, na meyɛ Israelhene wɔ Yerusalem. 13Metuu me ho sii hɔ sɛ mede nimdeɛ bɛsua ayɛ nhwehwɛmu wɔ biribiara a wɔyɛ no owia yi ase ho. Adesoa duruduru bɛn na Onyankopɔn de ato adasamma soɔ yi! 14Mahunu biribiara a wɔyɛ no owia yi ase; ne nyinaa nka hwee, ɛte sɛ deɛ obi de mmirika taa mframa.

15Deɛ akyea no, wɔntumi ntene;

na deɛ ɛnni hɔ no, wɔntumi nkan.

16Mekaa wɔ me ho sɛ, “Hwɛ, manyini na manya nimdeɛ bebree asene obiara a watena Yerusalem ahennwa so ansa na merebɛdi adeɛ. Manya nhunumu ne nimdeɛ mu osuahunu.” 17Afei, meyɛɛ mʼadwene sɛ mɛhwehwɛ na mate nimdeɛ ase, ɛne abɔdamsɛm ne nkwaseasɛm. Nanso mehunuu sɛ yei nso te sɛ deɛ obi di mmirika taa mframa.

18Nimdeɛ bebree de awerɛhoɔ na ɛba;

nyansa bebree de ahohiahia bebree ba.

New International Reader’s Version

Ecclesiastes 1:1-18

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.