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Preceding Generations Forgotten
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Everything Is Meaningless
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities! all is vanity.
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
What profit hath man of all his labour wherewith he laboureth under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
[One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh, but the earth standeth for ever.
The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth.
The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.
The wind goeth towards the south, and turneth about towards the north: it turneth about continually, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.
Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.
Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
All things are full of toil; none can express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which will be done: and there is nothing new under the sun.
Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.
Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already in the ages which were before us.
We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be remembrance of things that are to come with those who shall live afterwards.
The Teacher Speaks: The Futility of Wisdom
I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem.
With Wisdom Comes Sorrow
I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.
And I applied my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: this grievous occupation hath God given to the children of men to weary themselves therewith.
I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless — like chasing the wind.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
What is wrong cannot be made right.
What is missing cannot be recovered.
What is missing cannot be recovered.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”
I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have become great and have acquired wisdom more than all they that have been before me over Jerusalem; and my heart hath seen much of wisdom and knowledge.
So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
And I applied my heart to the knowledge of wisdom, and to the knowledge of madness and folly: I perceived that this also is a striving after the wind.