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 All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.
“Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
3 What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?
What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
4 One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.
People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
5 The sun comes up and the sun goes down, and goes quickly back to the place where he came up.
The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
6 The wind goes to the south, turning back again to the north; circling round for ever.
The wind blows south, and then turns to the north. Round and round it spins, finally coming full circle.
7 All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, 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 may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its 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 is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will 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 anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was 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 memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.
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 gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.
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 which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for 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 bent may not be made straight, and that which is not there may not be numbered.
You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
16 I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem — yes, my heart has seen much 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 gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for 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 Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.
For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
