Ecclesiastes 1:1–5

1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

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.

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

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.

1 These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.

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.

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

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.

1 These are the words of the Teacher, a son of David, king in Jerusalem.

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.

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

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.

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 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.

1 The words of the spokesman, the son of David and the king in Jerusalem. 

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⸥. 

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

1 These are the words of the Teacher. He was the son of David. He was also king in Jerusalem.

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.

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

3 What advantage does man have in all his work

Which he does under the sun?

4 A generation goes and a generation comes,

But the earth remains forever.

5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;

And hastening to its place it rises there again.