1 These are the words of the Teacher, David's son, who ruled as king in Jerusalem. [ a ]
2 The Teacher says, ‘Nothing has a purpose.
Nothing that ever happens has a purpose.’
3 People work very hard while they live on the earth.
But in the end, what do they receive in return for their work?
4 Old people die and then their children live after them.
But the earth continues and it never changes.
5 The sun rises in the morning and it disappears in the evening.
Then it quickly moves to rise again the next morning.
6 The wind blows to the south. Then it turns to the north.
It blows in every direction. Then it starts again.
7 All rivers pour water into the sea, but the sea does not become full.
The water returns to the rivers and it all happens again.
8 Everything continues in the same way.
There is nothing important to talk about.
Nothing that we see is enough to make us happy.
There are always more things that we want to hear.
9 Things that are happening now will continue to happen in the future.
What people have done before, other people will do again.
There is nothing truly new anywhere on the earth.
10 People may say, ‘Look! Here is something new!’
But really it happened long ago, before we were born.
11 People do not remember things that happened in the past.
In the future, people will not remember what has happened either.
12 I, the Teacher, ruled Israel as king in Jerusalem. 13 I decided to study everything that happens on the earth. I used wisdom to try to understand these things. I realized that God has given people hard work to do, which causes them to suffer. 14 I thought about all the things that people do on the earth. I realized that all these things have no purpose. It is like somebody who tries to catch the wind.
15 If someone has bent something,
you cannot always make it straight again.
You cannot count things,
if they are not there. [ b ]
16 I said to myself, ‘Listen! I have become very wise! I am much wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I know a lot more things than they ever did!’ 17 So I decided to study how much wisdom and knowledge really help a person. I wanted to learn if it was better than someone who only does foolish things. But this was also useless, like somebody who tries to catch the wind.
18 The more wisdom you have,
the more you will worry.
The more you learn,
the more you suffer. [ c ]
1 These are the words from the Teacher, a son of David and king of Jerusalem.
2 Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher says that it is all a waste of time! [ a ] 3 Do people really gain anything from all the hard work they do in this life [ b ] ?
4 People live and people die, but the earth continues forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun goes down, and then it hurries to rise again in the same place.
6 The wind blows to the south, and the wind blows to the north. The wind blows around and around. Then it turns and blows back to the place it began.
7 All rivers flow again and again to the same place. They all flow to the sea, but the sea never becomes full.
8 Words cannot fully explain things, [ c ] but people continue speaking. [ d ] Words come again and again to our ears, but our ears don’t become full. And our eyes don’t become full of what we see.
9 All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. The same things will be done that have always been done. There is nothing new in this life.
10 Someone might say, “Look, this is new,” but that thing has always been here. It was here before we were.
11 People don’t remember what happened long ago. In the future, they will not remember what is happening now. And later, other people will not remember what the people before them did.
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I decided to study and to use my wisdom to learn about everything that is done in this life. I learned that it is a very hard thing that God has given us to do. 14 I looked at everything done on earth, and I saw that it is all a waste of time. It is like trying to catch the wind. [ e ] 15 If something is crooked, you cannot say it is straight. And if something is missing, you cannot say it is there.
16 I said to myself, “I am very wise. I am wiser than all the kings who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.”
17 I decided to learn how wisdom and knowledge are better than thinking foolish thoughts. But I learned that trying to become wise is like trying to catch the wind. 18 With much wisdom comes frustration. The one who gains more wisdom also gains more sorrow.
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
1 The words of the ( A ) Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “ ( B ) Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher,
“Futility of futilities! All is futility.”
3 ( C ) What advantage does a person have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the ( D ) earth [ a ] remains forever.
5 Also, ( E ) the sun rises and the sun sets;
And [ b ] hurrying to its place it rises there again .
6 [ c ] ( F ) Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues [ d ] swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.
7 All the rivers [ e ] flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers [ f ] flow,
There they [ g ] flow again.
8 All things are wearisome;
No one can tell it .
( G ) The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 ( H ) What has been, it is what will be,
And what has been done, it is what will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new”?
It has already existed for ages
Which were before us.
11 There is ( I ) no remembrance of the [ h ] earlier things,
And of the later things as well, which will occur,
There will be no remembrance of them
Among those who will come later still .
12 I, the ( J ) Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I ( K ) set my [ i ] mind to seek and ( L ) explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a [ j ] ( M ) sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled. 14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is ( N ) futility and striving after wind. 15 What is ( O ) crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I [ k ] said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased ( P ) wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my [ l ] mind has observed [ m ] a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I ( Q ) applied my [ n ] mind to know wisdom and to ( R ) know insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is ( S ) striving after wind. 18 Because ( T ) in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.
1 The words of the Teacher, [ a ] ( A ) son of David, king in Jerusalem: ( B )
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.” ( C )
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun? ( D )
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever. ( E )
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises. ( F )
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again. ( G )
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing, ( H )
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again; ( I )
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations, ( J )
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them. ( K )
12 I, the Teacher, ( L ) was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ( M ) 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. ( N ) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! ( O ) 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ( P )
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; ( Q )
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; ( R ) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, ( S ) and also of madness and folly, ( T ) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
