Ecclesiastes 1
1 The words of the Proclaimer, 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 Proclaimer, vanity of vanities! all, is vanity.
“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
3 What profit hath Man, in all his toil wherewith he toileth under the sun?
What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generation, goeth and, generation, cometh, but, the earth, unto times age-abiding, remaineth.
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5 And the sun, breaketh forth, and the sun, goeth in, —yea, unto his own place, he panteth, from whence he brake forth.
The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.
6 Going unto the south, and circling unto the north, —circling, circling continually, is, the wind, and, over its own circuits, returneth the wind.
The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
7 All the streams, flow into the sea, yet, the sea, is not full, —unto the place whither the streams flow, thither, do they again flow.
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 words, are weak, unable is any man to tell, —not satisfied is the eye by seeing, nor filled is the ear 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 the same that shall be, and, that which hath been done, is the same that shall be done, —and there is, nothing new, 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, of which it can be said, See here, it is, new? Already, hath it been, for ages, [it is something] which was 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 thing before, —nor, even of the things after, which shall be, will there be any remembrance, with them who 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 Proclaimer, was king over Israel, in Jerusalem.
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I gave my heart to seek and to search out, wisely, concerning all things which are done under the heavens, —the same, is the vexatious employment God hath given to the sons of men, to work toilsomely therein,
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 saw all the works which were done under the sun, —and lo! all, was vanity, and a feeding on 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 straight, —and, that which is wanting, cannot be reckoned.
What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 Spake, I, in my heart, saying, As for me, lo! I have become great, and have gathered wisdom, beyond any one who hath been before me over Jerusalem, —and, my heart, hath seen much 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 yea I have given my heart, to know wisdom, and to know madness, and folly, —I know that, even this, is a feeding on 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 vexation, —and, he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth pain.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
