Ecclesiastes 1
1 Words of a preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities: the whole [is] vanity.
“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
3 What advantage [is] to man by all his labor that he labors at under the sun?
What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation is going, and a generation is coming, and the earth is standing for all time.
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5 Also, the sun has risen, and the sun has gone in, and to its place panting it is rising there.
The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.
6 Going to the south, and turning around to the north, turning around, turning around, the wind is going, and by its circuits the wind has returned.
The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
7 All the streams are going to the sea, and the sea is not full; to a place to where the streams are going, there they are turning back to go.
All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.
8 All these things are wearying; a man is not able to speak, the eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor is the ear filled from hearing.
All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
9 What [is] that which has been? It [is] that which is, and what [is] that which has been done? It [is] that which is done, and there is not an entirely new thing under the sun.
What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 There is a thing of which [one] says: “See this, it [is] new!” Already it has been in the ages that were before us!
Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.
11 There is not a remembrance of former [generations]; and also of the latter that are, there is no remembrance of them with those that are at the last.
There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
12 I, a preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that has been done under the heavens. It [is] a sad travail God has given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
14 I have seen all the works that have been done under the sun, and behold, the whole [is] vanity and distress of spirit!
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
15 A crooked thing [one] is not able to make straight, and a lacking thing is not able to be numbered.
What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I spoke with my heart, saying, “I, behold, have magnified and added wisdom above everyone who has been before me at Jerusalem, and my heart has seen wisdom and knowledge abundantly.
I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this [is] distress of spirit;
So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
18 for in abundance of wisdom [is] abundance of sadness, and he who adds knowledge adds pain.”
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
