Ecclesiastes 1

The Futility of All Endeavors

1The words of the 1Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.2“2Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “Futility of futilities! All is futility.”

33What advantage does a person have in all his work Which he does under the sun?4A generation goes and a generation comes, But the 4earth 5remains forever.5Also, 6the sun rises and the sun sets; And 7hurrying to its place it rises there again.689Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues 10swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns.7All the rivers 11flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers 12flow, There they 13flow again.8All things are wearisome; No one can tell it. 14The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.915What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.10Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? It has already existed for ages Which were before us.11There is 16no remembrance of the 17earlier things, And of the later things as well, which will occur, There will be no remembrance of them Among those who will come later still.

The Futility of Wisdom

12I, the 18Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13And I 19set my 20mind to seek and 21explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a 2223sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled. 14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is 24futility and striving after wind. 15What is 25crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16I 26said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased 27wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my 28mind has observed 29a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 17And I 30applied my 31mind to know wisdom and to 32know insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is 33striving after wind. 18Because 34in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.