Ecclesiastes 1

¹ The words of Qohelet,
son of David,
king in Jerusalem.

² Fleeting! Utterly fleeting!
says Qohelet.
Fleeting! Utterly fleeting!
All is fleeting.

³ What does anyone gain
from all their toil
at which they labor under the sun?

⁴ A generation goes and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.

⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets,
then hurries back to the place
where it rises again.

⁶ The wind blows south,
then circles north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.

⁷ All streams flow to the sea,
but the sea is never full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they return again.

⁸ All things are wearisome—
more than one can say.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹ What has been is what will be,
and what has been done
is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰ Is there anything of which one can say,
'Look! This is new'?
It has already existed
in the ages before us.

¹¹ There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of things yet to come
among those who come after.

¹² I, Qohelet, was king
over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³ I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom
all that is done under the heavens.
It is a grievous task
God has given to human beings
to be occupied with.

¹⁴ I have seen all the works
that are done under the sun,
and look—all is fleeting,
a chasing after wind.

¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶ I said to myself, 'Look,
I have grown great and increased in wisdom
beyond all who were before me over Jerusalem;
my mind has observed much wisdom and knowledge.'

¹⁷ I set my mind to know wisdom
and to know madness and folly.
I realized that this too
is a chasing after wind.

¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much grief,
and whoever increases knowledge
increases sorrow.