2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”

says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless!

Everything is meaningless.”

3 What do people gain from all their labors

at which they toil under the sun?

4 Generations come and generations go,

but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets,

and hurries back to where it rises.

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.

2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

3 What does man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,

and hastens to the place where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south

and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

7 All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

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.

2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. 6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 7 Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.

2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

3 What profit has a man from all his labor

In which he toils under the sun?

4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes;

But the earth abides forever.

5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,

And hastens to the place where it arose.

6 The wind goes toward the south,

And turns around to the north;

The wind whirls about continually,

And comes again on its circuit.

7 All the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full;

To the place from which the rivers come,

There they return again.

2 The Teacher says,

“Useless! Useless!

Completely useless!

Everything is useless.”

3 What do people really gain

from all the hard work they do here on earth?

4 People live, and people die,

but the earth continues forever.

5 The sun rises, the sun sets,

and then it hurries back to where it rises again.

6 The wind blows to the south;

it blows to the north.

It blows from one direction and then another.

Then it turns around and repeats the same pattern, going nowhere.

7 All the rivers flow to the sea,

but the sea never becomes full.

2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity. 3 What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun? 4 One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever. 5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth. 6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities! all is vanity. 3 What profit hath man of all his labour wherewith he laboureth under the sun?

4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth standeth for ever. 5 The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth. 6 The wind goeth towards the south, and turneth about towards the north: it turneth about continually, and the wind returneth again to its circuits. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

2 “Absolutely pointless!” says the spokesman. “Absolutely pointless! Everything is pointless.” 

3 What do people gain from all their hard work under the sun? 

4 Generations come, and generations go, 

but the earth lasts forever. 

5 The sun rises, and the sun sets, 

and then it rushes back to the place where it will rise ⸤again⸥. 

6 The wind blows toward the south and shifts toward the north. 

Round and round it blows. It blows in a full circle. 

7 All streams flow into the sea, but the sea is never full. 

The water goes back to the place where the streams began 

in order to ⸤start⸥ flowing again. 

2 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.

“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”

3 What does a man gain for all his efforts

that he labors at under the sun?

4 A generation goes and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets;

panting, it returns to its place

where it rises.

6 Gusting to the south,

turning to the north,

turning, turning, goes the wind,

and the wind returns in its cycles.

7 All the streams flow to the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

The streams are flowing to the place,

and they flow there again.

2 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,

vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

3 What do people gain from all the toil

at which they toil under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun goes down,

and hurries to the place where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south,

and goes around to the north;

round and round goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

7 All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they continue to flow.

2 “Vanity of vanities!” says the Teacher,

“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!”

3 What does a person gain in all his toil

with which he toils under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth stands forever.

5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down;

to its place it hurries, and there it rises again.

6 The wind goes to the south and goes around to the north;

around and around it goes, and on its circuit the wind returns.

7 All the streams flow to the sea,

but the sea is never full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they continue to flow.

2 “Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!”

says the Teacher.

“Everything is completely meaningless!

Nothing has any meaning.”

3 What does a man get for all of his work?

Why does he work so hard on this earth?

4 People come and people go.

But the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises. Then it sets.

And then it hurries back to where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south.

Then it turns to the north.

Around and around it goes.

It always returns to where it started.

7 Every stream flows into the ocean.

But the ocean never gets full.

The streams return

to the place they came from.