Ecclesiastes1

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

²“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

³What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?

⁴One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.

⁵The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose.

⁶The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.

⁷All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.

⁸All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.

¹²I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.

¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

¹⁶I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.

¹⁸For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.