Ecclesiastes 1:1-18
1 The words of the congregator,*+ the son of David, the king in Jerusalem.+
2 “The greatest futility!”* says the congregator,“The greatest futility! Everything is futile!”+
3 What does a person gain from all his hard workAt which he toils under the sun?+
4 A generation is going, and a generation is coming,But the earth remains* forever.+
5 The sun rises,* and the sun sets;Then it hurries back* to the place where it rises again.+
6 The wind goes south and circles around to the north;Round and round it continuously circles; the wind keeps making its rounds.
7 All the streams* flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full.+
To the place from which the streams flow, there they return so as to flow again.+
8 All things are wearisome;No one can even speak of it.
The eye is not satisfied at seeing;Nor is the ear filled from hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,And what has been done will be done again;There is nothing new under the sun.+
10 Is there anything of which one may say, “Look at this—it is new”?
It already existed from long ago;It already existed before our time.
11 No one remembers people of former times;Nor will anyone remember those who come later;Nor will they be remembered by those who come still later.+
12 I, the congregator, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.+
13 I set my heart to study and explore with wisdom+ everything that has been done under the heavens+—the miserable occupation that God has given to the sons of men that keeps them occupied.
14 I saw all the works that were done under the sun,And look! everything was futile, a chasing after the wind.+
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight,And what is lacking cannot possibly be counted.
16 Then I said in my heart: “Look! I have acquired great wisdom, more than anyone who was before me in Jerusalem,+ and my heart gained a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.”+
17 I applied my heart to knowing wisdom and to knowing madness* and to knowing folly,+ and this too is a chasing after the wind.
18 For an abundance of wisdom brings an abundance of frustration,So that whoever increases knowledge increases pain.+
Footnotes
^ Or “assembler; convener.”
^ Or “vanity.”
^ Lit., “is standing.”
^ Or “shines forth.”
^ Or “returns panting.”
^ Or “winter streams; seasonal streams.”
^ Or “extreme foolishness.”
