The words of the aPreacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.Eccl 1:12; 7:27; 12:8-10
2 “aFutility of futilities,” says the Preacher,“Futility of futilities! All is futility.”Ps 39:5, 6; 62:9; 144:4; Eccl 12:8; Rom 8:20 3 aWhat advantage does a person have in all his workWhich he does under the sun?Eccl 2:11; 3:9; 5:164 A generation goes and a generation comes,But the aearth 1remains forever.Lit standsPs 104:5; 119:905 Also, athe sun rises and the sun sets;And 1hurrying to its place it rises there again.Lit pantingPs 19:66 1aBlowing toward the south,Then turning toward the north,The wind continues 2swirling along;And on its circular courses the wind returns.Lit GoingLit turningEccl 11:5; John 3:87 All the rivers 1flow into the sea,Yet the sea is not full.To the place where the rivers 2flow,There they 3flow again.Lit go8 All things are wearisome;No one can tell it.aThe eye is not satisfied with seeing,Nor is the ear filled with hearing.Prov 27:20; Eccl 4:89 aWhat 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.Eccl 1:10; 2:12; 3:15; 6:1010 Is there anything of which one might say,“See this, it is new”?It has already existed for agesWhich were before us.11 There is ano remembrance of the 1earlier things,And of the later things as well, which will occur,There will be no remembrance of themAmong those who will come later still.Lit first; or formerEccl 2:16; 9:5 12 I, the aPreacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.Eccl 1:1; 7:27; 12:8-10 13 And I aset my 1mind to seek and bexplore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a 2csorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.Lit heartLit evilEccl 1:17Eccl 3:10, 11; 7:25; 8:17Eccl 2:23, 26; 3:10; 4:8 14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is afutility and striving after wind.Eccl 2:11, 17; 4:4; 6:9 15 What is acrooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.Eccl 7:13
16 I 1said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased awisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my 2mind has observed 3a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”Lit spoke with my heart, sayingLit heartLit an abundance1 Kin 3:12; 4:30; 10:23; Eccl 2:9 17 And I aapplied my 1mind to know wisdom and to bknow insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is cstriving after wind.Lit heartEccl 1:13; 7:25Eccl 2:12; 7:25Eccl 1:14; 2:11, 17; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9 18 Because ain much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.Eccl 2:23; 12:12