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Ecclesiastes 1
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1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
1These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, who was king in Jerusalem.
2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
2“Everything is completely meaningless,” says the Teacher. “Everything is completely meaningless!”
3What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun?
3What do people actually gain from all the hard work they do here on earth?
4One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever.
4Generations come and generations go, but the earth stays the same forever.
5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth.
5The sun rises and the sun sets, then it hurries back to where it must rise again.
6The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.
6The wind blows to the south and circles to the north; it blows around and around, eventually returning to its starting point.
7All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.
7All the streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; the water returns to the place where the rivers began so they can flow again.
8All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
8Everything is so weary that no words can describe it. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are never content.
9That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
9What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing truly new on this earth.
10Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
10Is there anything anyone can point to and say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages that came before us.
11There is no remembrance of the former generations; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.
11No one remembers the people from the past, and in the future, nobody will remember the people who are living now.
12I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
13I dedicated myself to study and use wisdom to explore everything done under heaven. I found that God has given people a miserable task to keep them busy.
14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
14I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and look—it is all meaningless, like chasing the wind.
15That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
15What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is missing cannot be counted.
16I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
16I said to myself, “I have become very wise and have gained more wisdom than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I have experienced a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.”