Ecclesiastes 1
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
3 What profit hath man of all his labour wherein he laboureth under the sun?
What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
4 One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; and the earth abideth for ever.
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he ariseth.
The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.
The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.
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 things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
9 That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no 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 Is there a thing whereof men say, See, this is new? it hath been already, in the ages which 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 no remembrance of the former [generations]; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter [generations] that are to come, among those that shall come after.
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 the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in 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 sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
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 are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
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 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
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 applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.
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 much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
