1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. |
1:2 " Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All constitutes vanity." |
1:3 What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? |
1:4 A generation goes and a generation comes,But the earth remains forever. |
1:5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again. |
1:6 Blowing toward the south,Then turning toward the north,The wind continues swirling along;And on its circular courses the wind returns. |
1:7 All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea does not fill.To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again. |
1:8 All things become weary; Man cannot tell it. The eye has no satisfaction with seeing, Nor does the ear fill with hearing. |
1:9 That which has come before will occur again, And that which one has done will happen again.So nothing new occurs under the sun. |
1:10 Can anything happen of which one might say, |
1:11 There exists no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will exist for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still. |
1:12 I, the Preacher, have served as king over Israel in Jerusalem. |
1:13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has happened under heaven It proves a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to suffer affliction. |
1:14 I have seen all the works which have occurred under the sun, and behold, all seems like vanity and striving after wind. |
1:15 What has grown crooked cannot become straightened and what lacks no one cannot count. |
1:16 I said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who ruled over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge." |
1:17 And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also seems like striving after wind. |
1:18 Because in much wisdom one has much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. |