| | | English | Latin |
| 1 | 1 | The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Jerusalem. | verba Ecclesiastes filii David regis Hierusalem |
| 1 | 2 | Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. | vanitas vanitatum dixit Ecclesiastes vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas |
| 1 | 3 | What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the sun? | quid habet amplius homo de universo labore suo quod laborat sub sole |
| 1 | 4 | One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth standeth for ever. | generatio praeterit et generatio advenit terra vero in aeternum stat |
| 1 | 5 | The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and there rising again, | oritur sol et occidit et ad locum suum revertitur ibique renascens |
| 1 | 6 | 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. | gyrat per meridiem et flectitur ad aquilonem lustrans universa circuitu pergit spiritus et in circulos suos regreditur |
| 1 | 7 | 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. | omnia flumina intrant mare et mare non redundat ad locum unde exeunt flumina revertuntur ut iterum fluant |
| 1 | 8 | All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing. | cunctae res difficiles non potest eas homo explicare sermone non saturatur oculus visu nec auris impletur auditu |
| 1 | 9 | 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. | quid est quod fuit ipsum quod futurum est quid est quod factum est ipsum quod fiendum est |
| 1 | 10 | 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. | nihil sub sole novum nec valet quisquam dicere ecce hoc recens est iam enim praecessit in saeculis quae fuerunt ante nos |
| 1 | 11 | 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. | non est priorum memoria sed nec eorum quidem quae postea futura sunt erit recordatio apud eos qui futuri sunt in novissimo |
| 1 | 12 | I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem, | ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israhel in Hierusalem |
| 1 | 13 | 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. | et proposui in animo meo quaerere et investigare sapienter de omnibus quae fiunt sub sole hanc occupationem pessimam dedit Deus filiis hominum ut occuparentur in ea |
| 1 | 14 | I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity, and vexation of spirit. | vidi quae fiunt cuncta sub sole et ecce universa vanitas et adflictio spiritus |
| 1 | 15 | The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is infinite. | perversi difficile corriguntur et stultorum infinitus est numerus |
| 1 | 16 | 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. | locutus sum in corde meo dicens ecce magnus effectus sum et praecessi sapientia omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Hierusalem et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter et didicit |
| 1 | 17 | 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, | dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam atque doctrinam erroresque et stultitiam et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor et adflictio spiritus |
| 1 | 18 | Because in much wisdom there is much indignation: and he that addeth knowledge, addeth also labour. | eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio et qui addit scientiam addat et laborem |