Ecclesiastes 1

EVERYTHING IS FUTILE

1The words of the Teacher,^Aa son of David, king in Jerusalem.^b

²“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.

“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”^c

³What does a person gain for all his efforts

that he labors at under the sun?^d

⁴A generation goes and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.^e

⁵The sun rises and the sun sets;

panting, it hurries back to the place^f

where it rises.

⁶Gusting to the south,

turning to the north,

turning, turning, goes the wind,^g

and the wind returns in its cycles.

⁷All the streams flow to the sea,

yet the sea is never full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

⁸All things^B are wearisome,

more than anyone can say.

The eye is not satisfied by seeing^h

or the ear filled with hearing.

⁹What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Can one say about anything,

“Look, this is new”?

It has already existed in the ages before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of those who^C came before;ⁱ

and of those who will come after

there will also be no remembrance

by those who follow them.

THE LIMITATIONS OF WISDOM

¹²I, the Teacher,^j have been^D king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³I applied my mind to examine^k and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven.^l God has given people^E this miserable task to keep them occupied.^{m 14}I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.ⁿ

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened;^o

what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me,^p and my mind has thoroughly grasped^G wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge,^q madness and folly;^r I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.^s

¹⁸For with much wisdom is much sorrow;^t

as knowledge increases, grief increases.