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¹ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.² Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.³ What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

⁴ A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever.⁵ The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.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.⁷ All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.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.

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.¹⁰ Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already, in the ages before us.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.

¹² I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.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.¹⁴ I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered.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."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.¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.