Ecclesiastes 1:4–11

Generations come and generations go,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises and the sun sets,

and hurries back to where it rises.

The wind blows to the south

and turns to the north;

round and round it goes,

ever returning on its course.

All streams flow into the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

To the place the streams come from,

there they return again.

All things are wearisome,

more than one can say.

The eye never has enough of seeing,

nor the ear its fill of hearing.

What has been will be again,

what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun.

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.

No one remembers the former generations,

and even those yet to come

will not be remembered

by those who follow them.

A generation goes and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises and the sun sets;

panting, it hurries back to the place

where it rises.

Gusting to the south,

turning to the north,

turning, turning, goes the wind,

and the wind returns in its cycles.

All the streams flow to the sea,

yet the sea is never full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

All things are wearisome,

more than anyone can say.

The eye is not satisfied by seeing

or the ear filled with hearing.

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing new under the sun.

Can one say about anything,

“Look, this is new”?

It has already existed in the ages before us.

There is no remembrance of those who came before;

and of those who will come after

there will also be no remembrance

by those who follow them.

Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 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. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth stands forever.

The sun rises, and the sun goes down;

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

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

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

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.

All things toil continuously;

no one can ever finish describing this.

The eye is never satisfied with seeing,

and the ear is never filled with hearing.

What has been—it is what will be;

what has been done—it is what will be done;

there is nothing new under the sun.

There is a thing of which it is said, “Look at this! This is new!”

But it already existed in ages past before us.

There is neither remembrance of former generations,

nor will there be remembrance of future generations.

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. 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. 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. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 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. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. 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.