Ecclesiastes 1:4-18 ▼

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

5 The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it returns to its place where it rises.

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

7 All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full. The streams are flowing to the place, and they flow there again.

8 All things are wearisome; man is unable to speak. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.

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

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

11 There 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.

12 I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 I applied my mind to seek and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.

14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.”

17 I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.

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