1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?

人在太阳下辛苦劳作能得到什么？

4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

一代又一代，来来去去。物是人非。

5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.

日出日落。周而复始。

6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.

风吹南北，循环往复，去了又来。

7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. 

涓涓细流汇入大海；海纳百川，从不满足。水汽蒸腾，再归源头。

8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
万事腻味。说不清，道不明。但看不饱，听不厌。 
9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
已有的事，还会再有。做过的事，还会重复。天底下并无新事。 
10 Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
哪有一件事像人说的“这是新的”？殊不知，在我们以前的世代，早已有了。 
11 There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.
过去的，早已忘怀，后来的，无人关心。 
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!

我用智慧致力于探究天下万事，乃知神叫世人担负重荷。

14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

15 What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

是非曲直，不相容。缺什么，什么就重要。 

16 I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge."

17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

聪明人多愁善感。因为，知道得越多，反添忧伤。