Ecclesiastes 1
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
“Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
3 What profit has man from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?
What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
4 One generation goes, and another generation comes, but the earth abides forever.
People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
5 The sun also arises, and the sun goes down and hastens to its place where it arises.
The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually in its course, and the wind returns again to its circuits.
The wind blows south, and then turns to the north. Round and round it spins, finally coming full circle.
7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place from where the rivers come, there they go again.
Streams all flow into the sea, but the sea never becomes full. The streams return to the place from where they came.
8 All things are full of weariness, man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
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.
9 That which has been is that which shall be, and that which has been done is that which shall be done. And there is no new thing under the sun.
Everything that was will continue to be; everything that has been done will be done again. Nothing new ever happens here.
10 Is there a thing of which it may be said, See, this is new? It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
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.
11 There is no remembrance of the former things, nor shall there be any remembrance of the latter that are to come, among those who shall come after.
The problem is we don't remember people from the past, and people in the future won't remember those who came before them.
12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem.
13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven. It is a great tribulation that God has given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
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!
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
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!
15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
16 I communed with my own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten for me great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yea, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
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.”
17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.
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.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
