Ecclesiastes 1
1 The words of Koheleth, the son of David, the king in Jerusalem.
Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
2 Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth, 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 hath a man of all his toil which he toil-eth under the sun?
What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth endureth for ever.
People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
5 The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and striving to reach his place he riseth again there.
The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
6 Going toward the south, and turning round toward the north, the wind moveth round about continually; and around its circles doth the wind return again.
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 never full: unto the place whither the rivers go, thither will they continue to go.
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 weary themselves [constantly]; man can not utter them: the eye is never 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 hath been, is the same which will be; and that which hath been done, is the same which will be done; and there is nothing new 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 If there be any thing whereof it is said, See, this is new: It hath already been in olden times 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 [Only] there is no recollection of former [generations]; and also of the later ones, that are to be—of these [likewise] there will be no recollection with those that will be still later.
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 Koheleth was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem.
13 And I directed my heart to inquire and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: this is an evil employment which God hath given to the sons of man to busy themselves 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 saw all the deeds that are done under the sun: and, behold, all is vanity and a torture of the spirit.
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 What is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is defective cannot be numbered.
You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
16 I spoke with my own heart, saying, Lo, I have truly obtained greater and more wisdom than all those who have been before me over Jerusalem: yea, my heart had 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 directed my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly; [but] I have perceived that this also is a torture of the spirit.
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 where there is much wisdom there is much vexation: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth pain.
For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
