^1. THE words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

^2. « [4] Vanity of vanities,» says the Preacher, « [3] [2] Vanity of vanities! All is [1] vanity.»

^3. What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?

^4. A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth [5] remains forever.

^5. Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And [6] hastening to its place it rises there again.

^6. [8] Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues [7] swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns.

^7. All the rivers [11] flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers [10] flow, There they [9] flow again.

^8. All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

^9. That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

^10. Is there anything of which one might say, «See this, it is new»? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.

^11. There is no remembrance of [14] earlier things; And also of the [13] later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come [12] later still.

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

^13. And I set my [16] mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is [15] a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

^14. I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is [17] vanity and striving after wind.

^15. What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.

^16. I [20] said to myself, «Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my [19] mind has observed [18] a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.»

^17. And I set my [21] mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind.

^18. Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.