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.

8 All things are wearisome,

more than one can say.

The eye never has enough of seeing,

nor the ear its fill of hearing.

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.

8 All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

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. 8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

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.

8 All things are full of labor;

Man cannot express it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor the ear filled with hearing.

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.

8 Everything is boring,

so boring that you don’t even want to talk about it.

Words come again and again to our ears,

but we never hear enough,

nor can we ever really see all we want to see.

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. 8 All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

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. 8 All things are full of toil; none can express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

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. 

8 All of these sayings are worn-out phrases. They are more than anyone can express, comprehend, or understand. 

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.

8 All things are wearisome;

man is unable to speak.

The eye is not satisfied by seeing

or the ear filled with hearing.

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.

8 All things are wearisome;

more than one can express;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

or the ear filled with hearing.

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.

8 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.

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.

8 All things are tiresome.

They are more tiresome than anyone can say.

But our eyes never see enough of anything.

Our ears never hear enough.

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.

6 Blowing toward the south,

Then turning toward the north,

The wind continues swirling along;

And on its circular courses the wind returns.

7 All the rivers flow into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full.

To the place where the rivers flow,

There they flow again.

8 All things are wearisome;

Man is not able to tell it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor is the ear filled with hearing.