Ecclesiastes 1:2–7
2 “1aVanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“1Vanity of vanities! All is 2vanity.”
3 aWhat advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the aearth 1remains forever.
5 Also, athe sun rises and the sun sets;
And 1hastening to its place it rises there again.
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues 2swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.
7 All the rivers 1flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers 1flow,
There they 1flow again.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — The New International Version (NIV)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — English Standard Version (ESV)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — King James Version (KJV 1900)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — New Living Translation (NLT)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — The New King James Version (NKJV)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — New Century Version (NCV)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — American Standard Version (ASV)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)
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.
Ecclesiastes 1:2–7 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)
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.