Ecclesiastes 1

1:1

These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

1:2

“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

1:3

What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

1:4

Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

1:5

The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.

1:6

The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.

1:7

All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.

1:8

All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

1:9

What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

1:10

Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

1:11

There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.

1:12

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

1:13

And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

1:14

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

1:15

What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

1:16

I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

1:17

So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

1:18

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.