Ecclesiastes 1

^{Ecclesiastes 1:1} These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

^{Ecclesiastes 1:2} “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

^{Ecclesiastes 1:3} What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

^{Ecclesiastes 1:4} Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:5} The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:6} The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:7} All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:8} All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:9} What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:10} Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:11} There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:12} I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:13} And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

^{Ecclesiastes 1:14} I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:15} What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:16} I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

^{Ecclesiastes 1:17} So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

^{Ecclesiastes 1:18} For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.