Ecclesiastes 1

Modern

Literal

Everything Is Futile

¹These are the words of the Teacher,^a the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

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

²“Futility^a of futilities,”

says the Teacher,

“futility of futilities!

Everything is futile!”

²“Vapor of vapors,” says Qoheleth, “Vapor of vapors—the whole of it is vapor!”

³What does a man gain from all his labor,

at which he toils under the sun?

³What profit is unto the man from all his toil, with which he toils under the sun?

⁴Generations come and generations go,

but the earth remains forever.

⁴A generation is going and a generation is coming, and the earth is standing forever.

⁵The sun rises and the sun sets;

it hurries back to where it rises.

⁵And the sun has risen, and the sun has gone in, and to its place, panting, it is rising there.

⁶The wind blows southward,

then turns northward;

round and round it swirls,

ever returning on its course.

⁶Going toward the south, and turning about to the north—turning about, turning about—the wind is going about, and on its round the wind is returning.

⁷All the rivers flow into the sea,

yet the sea is never full;

to the place from which the streams come,

there again they flow.

⁷All the rivers are going to the sea, and the sea it has no filling; to the place from which the rivers come, there they are turning back to go.

⁸All things are wearisome,

more than one can describe;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear content with hearing.

⁸All the things are wearisome—a man is not able to speak; the eye is not satisfied from seeing, and the ear is not filled from hearing.

⁹What has been will be again,

and what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun.

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

¹⁰Is there a case where one can say,

“Look, this is new”?

It has already existed

in the ages before us.

¹⁰Is there anything of which one may say, “See this? It is new!” Already it has been in the ages that were from before our faces.

¹¹There is no remembrance

of those who came before,

and those yet to come will not be remembered

by those who follow after.

¹¹There is no remembrance of the former things, and of the latter things that will come to be, there will be no remembrance of them with those who come to be after them.

With Wisdom Comes Sorrow

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

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

¹³And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a miserable task God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

¹³And I gave my heart to search and spy out by wisdom, concerning all that is done under the heavens. This burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, to be occupied with it!

¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁴I have seen all the deeds that are done under the sun, and indeed, all is vapor and striving after the wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened,

and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁵What is crooked is not able to be straightened, and what is lacking is not able to be counted.

¹⁶I 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.”

¹⁶I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have become great, and I have added wisdom over all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen great wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁷And I set my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly; I have known that this also—it is a striving after the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow,

and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

¹⁸For with an abundance of wisdom is much grief, and he who adds to knowledge adds to sorrow.