Ecclesiastes, 1

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

1. Here are the words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all [is] vanity.

2. All is meaningless - says the Teacher - meaningless, meaningless!

3. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

3. What profit is there for a man in all his work for which he toils under the sun?

4. [One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

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

5. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

5. The sun rises, the sun sets, hastening towards the place where it again rises.

6. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

6. Blowing to the south, turning to the north, the wind goes round and round and after all its rounds it has to blow again.

7. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

7. All rivers go to the sea but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers come from, there they return again.

8. All things [are] full of labour; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

8. All words become weary and speech comes to an end, but the eye has never seen enough nor the ear heard too much.

9. The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.

9. What has happened before will happen again; what has been done before will be done again: there is nothing new under the sun.

10. Is there [any] thing whereof it may be said, See, this [is] new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

10. If they say to you, "See, it's new!" know that it has already been centuries earlier.

11. [There is] no remembrance of former [things]; neither shall there be [any] remembrance of [things] that are to come with [those] that shall come after.

11. There is no remembrance of ancient people, and those to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.

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

12. I, the teacher, have been king of Israel in Jerusalem.

13. And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all [things] that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

13. I set my heart on studying and examining critically all that is done under heaven.

14. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

14. It is a burdensome task which God has given to the sons of men! I have seen everything that is done under the sun, but all is meaningless: it is chasing the wind.

15. [That which is] crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

15. What is bent cannot be straightened; what is not will not come to be.

16. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all [they] that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

16. I thought to myself, "See, I have increased and promoted wisdom more than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me and I have experienced to the full both wisdom and knowledge."

17. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

17. I set my heart on comparing wisdom with foolishness and stupidity, and I discovered that this also is chasing the wind.

18. For in much wisdom [is] much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

18. For the wiser you are, the more worries you have, and the more you learn, the more you suffer.