Ecclesiastes 1
1 Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
The wordis of Ecclesiastes, sone of Dauid, the kyng of Jerusalem.
2 “Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
The vanyte of vanytees, seide Ecclesiastes; the vanyte of vanytees, and alle thingis ben vanite.
3 What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
What hath a man more of alle his trauel, bi which he traueilith vndur the sunne?
4 People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
Generacioun passith awei, and generacioun cometh; but the erthe stondith with outen ende.
5 The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
The sunne risith, and goith doun, and turneth ayen to his place;
6 The wind blows south, and then turns to the north. Round and round it spins, finally coming full circle.
and there it risith ayen, and cumpassith bi the south, and turneth ayen to the north. The spirit cumpassynge alle thingis goith `in cumpas, and turneth ayen in to hise cerclis.
7 Streams all flow into the sea, but the sea never becomes full. The streams return to the place from where they came.
Alle floodis entren in to the see, and the see fletith not ouer the markis set of God; the floodis turnen ayen to the place fro whennus tho comen forth, that tho flowe eft.
8 Everything just keeps on going. You can't say all there is to say. You can't see all there is to see. You can't hear all there is to hear.
Alle thingis ben hard; a man may not declare tho thingis bi word; the iye is not fillid bi siyt, nether the eere is fillid bi hering.
9 Everything that was will continue to be; everything that has been done will be done again. Nothing new ever happens here.
What is that thing that was, that that schal come? What is that thing that is maad, that that schal be maad?
10 There's nothing anyone can point to and say, “Look! Here's something new.” In fact it's been around for ages, long before our time.
No thing vndir the sunne is newe, nether ony man may seie, Lo! this thing is newe; for now it yede bifore in worldis, that weren bifore vs.
11 The problem is we don't remember people from the past, and people in the future won't remember those who came before them.
Mynde of the formere thingis is not, but sotheli nether thenkyng of tho thingis, that schulen come afterward, schal be at hem that schulen come in the last tyme.
12 I am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem.
I Ecclesiastes was king of Israel in Jerusalem;
13 I decided to focus my mind to explore, using wisdom, everything that happens here on earth. This is a tough assignment that God has given people to keep them busy!
and Y purposide in my soule to seke and enserche wiseli of alle thingis, that ben maad vndur the sunne. God yaf this werste ocupacioun to the sones of men, that thei schulden be ocupied therynne.
14 I examined everything people do here on earth, and discovered that it's all so temporary—trying to understand it is like trying to pin down the wind!
I siy alle thingis that ben maad vndur the sunne, and lo! alle thingis ben vanyte and turment of spirit.
15 You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
Weiward men ben amendid of hard; and the noumbre of foolis is greet with outen ende.
16 I thought to myself, “I've become very wise, wiser than all the kings of Jerusalem before me. My mind has gained a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.”
I spak in myn herte, and Y seide, Lo! Y am made greet, and Y passide in wisdom alle men, that weren bifore me in Jerusalem; and my soule siy many thingis wiseli, and Y lernede.
17 So I decided to use my mind to learn everything about wisdom, and madness and foolishness as well. But I found out that this is as hard as trying to catch hold of the wind.
And Y yaf myn herte, that Y schulde knowe prudence and doctryn, and errours and foli. And Y knew that in these thingis also was trauel and turment of spirit;
18 For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
for in myche wisdom is myche indignacioun, and he that encressith kunnyng, encreessith also trauel.
