Ecclesiastes 1
1 The words of Kohelet, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says Kohelet; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
“Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
3 What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?
What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
4 One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.
People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises.
The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses.
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 not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow 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 beyond uttering. The eye is not 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 has been is that which shall be, and that which has been done is that which shall 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 a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new”? It has been long ago, in the ages 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 There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.
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, Kohelet, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem.
13 I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
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 that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after 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 crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t be counted.
You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of 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 I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after 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 For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
