1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
1:2 “Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher,
“Futility of futilities! All is futility.”
1:3 What advantage does a person have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
1:4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the earth ①remains forever.
▷ ①Lit stands
1:5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And ①hurrying to its place it rises there again.
▷ ①Lit panting
1:6 ①Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues ②swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.
▷ ①Lit Going ②Lit turning
1:7 All the rivers ①flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers ②flow,
There they ③flow again.
▷ ①Lit go ②Lit go ③Lit go
1:8 All things are wearisome;
No one can tell it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
1:9 What 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.
1:10 Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new”?
It has already existed for ages
Which were before us.
1:11 There is no remembrance of the ①earlier 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.
▷ ①Lit first; or former
1:12 I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13 And I set my ①mind to seek and explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a ②sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.
▷ ①Lit evil ②Lit heart
1:14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is futility and striving after wind.
1:15 What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
1:16 I ①said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my ②mind has observed ③a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”
▷ ①Lit spoke with my heart, saying ②Lit heart ③Lit an abundance
1:17 And I applied my ①mind to know wisdom and to know insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is striving after wind.
▷ ①Lit heart
1:18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.