Ecclesiastes 1

Everything Is Futile

¹The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.²

³“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”⁴

⁵What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?⁶

⁷A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.⁸

⁹The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it hurries back to the place where it rises.¹⁰

¹¹Gusting to the south, turning to the north, turning, turning, goes the wind, and the wind returns in its cycles.¹²

¹³All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.¹⁴

¹⁵All things are wearisome, more than anyone can say. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.¹⁶

¹⁷What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.¹⁸

¹⁹Can one say about anything, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.²⁰

²¹There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come after there will also be no remembrance by those who follow them.²²

The Limitations of Wisdom

²³I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.²⁴²⁵I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.²⁶²⁷I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.²⁸

²⁹What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.³⁰

³¹I said to myself, “See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.”³²³³I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.³⁴

³⁵For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.³⁶