Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 ▼

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

2 Futile! Futile!| laments the Teacher, |Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!|

3 What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth?

4 A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth remains the same through the ages.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again.

6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north; round and round the wind goes and on its rounds it returns.

7 All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full, and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again.

8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.

9 What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.

10 Is there anything about which someone can say, |Look at this! It is new!|? It was already done long ago, before our time.

11 No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.