Ecclesiastes 1:1-10 ▼

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

2 |Utterly pointless,| says the Teacher. |Absolutely pointless; everything is pointless.|

3 What does a man gain from all of the work that he undertakes on earth?

4 A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises, the sun sets, then rushes back to where it arose.

6 The wind blows southward, then northward, constantly circulating, and the wind comes back again in its courses.

7 All the rivers flow toward the sea, but the sea is never full; then rivers return to the headwaters where they began.

8 Everything is wearisome, more than man is able to express. The eye is never satisfied by seeing, nor the ear by hearing.

9 Whatever has happened, will happen again; whatever has been done, will be done again. There is nothing new on earth.

10 Does anything exist about which someone might say, |Look at this! Is this new?| It happened ages ago; it existed before we did.