Ecc1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Ecc1:2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
Ecc1:3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
Ecc1:4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever.
Ecc1:5 The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
Ecc1:6 The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north;round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.
Ecc1:7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full;to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
Ecc1:8 All things are full of weariness;a man cannot utter it;the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Ecc1:9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done;and there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecc1:10 Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See, this is new'? It has been already, in the ages before us.
Ecc1:11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after.
Ecc1:12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecc1:13 And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven;it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.
Ecc1:14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun;and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Ecc1:15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered.
Ecc1:16 I said to myself, 'I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me;and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.'
Ecc1:17 And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
Ecc1:18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.