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The Futility of All Endeavor

¹ The words of the ^(C1)Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

² "^(F1)(C1)Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher,
"^(F1)Vanity of vanities! All is ^(F2)vanity."

^3 (C1)What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?

⁴ A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the ^(C1)earth ^(F1)remains forever.

⁵ Also, ^(C1)the sun rises and the sun sets;
And ^(F1)hastening to its place it rises there again.

^6 (F1)(C1)Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues ^(F2)swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.

⁷ All the rivers ^(F1)flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers ^(F1)flow,
There they ^(F1)flow again.

⁸ All things are wearisome;
Man is not able to tell it.
^(C1)The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

^9 (C1)That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰ Is there anything of which one might say,
"See this, it is new"?
Already it has existed for ages
Which were before us.

¹¹ There is ^(C1)no remembrance of ^(F1)earlier things;
And also of the ^(F2)later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come ^(F2)later still.

The Futility of Wisdom

¹² I, the ^(C1)Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.¹³ And I ^(C1)set my ^(F1)mind to seek and ^(C2)explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is ^(F2)a grievous ^(C3)task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.¹⁴ I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is ^(F1)(C1)vanity and striving after wind.¹⁵ What is ^(C1)crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶ I ^(F1)said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased ^(C1)wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my ^(F2)mind has observed ^(F3)a wealth of wisdom and knowledge."¹⁷ And I ^(C1)set my ^(F1)mind to know wisdom and to ^(C2)know madness and folly; I realized that this also is ^(C3)striving after wind.¹⁸ Because ^(C1)in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.