1:1 The words of the Teacher, 1 the son 2 of David, king 3 in Jerusalem: 4
1:2 “Futile! Futile!” laments 5 the Teacher, 6
“Absolutely futile! 7 Everything 8 is futile!” 9
1:3 What benefit 10 do people 11 get from all the effort
which 12 they expend 13 on earth? 14
1:4 A generation comes 15 and a generation goes, 16
but the earth remains 17 the same 18 through the ages. 19
1:5 The sun rises 20 and the sun sets; 21
it hurries away 22 to a place from which it rises 23 again. 24
1:6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north;
round and round 25 the wind goes and on its rounds it returns. 26
1:7 All the streams flow 27 into the sea, but the sea is not full,
and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again. 28
1:8 All this 29 monotony 30 is tiresome; no one can bear 31 to describe it: 32
The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content 33 with hearing.
1:9 What exists now 34 is what will be, 35
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing truly new on earth. 36
1:10 Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”? 37
It was already 38 done long ago, 39 before our time. 40
1:11 No one remembers the former events, 41
nor will anyone remember 42 the events that are yet to happen; 43
they will not be remembered by the future generations. 44
1:12 I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 45
1:13 I decided 46 to carefully 47 and thoroughly examine 48
all that has been accomplished on earth. 49
I concluded: 50 God has given people 51 a burdensome task 52
that keeps them 53 occupied. 54
1:14 I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man 55 on earth, 56
and I concluded: Everything 57 he has accomplished 58 is futile 59 – like chasing the wind! 60
1:15 What is bent 61 cannot be straightened, 62
and what is missing 63 cannot be supplied. 64
1:16 I thought to myself, 65
“I have become much wiser 66 than any of my predecessors who ruled 67 over Jerusalem; 68
I 69 have acquired much wisdom and knowledge.” 70
1:17 So I decided 71 to discern the benefit of 72 wisdom and knowledge over 73 foolish behavior and ideas; 74
however, I concluded 75 that even 76 this endeavor 77 is like 78 trying to chase the wind! 79
1:18 For with great wisdom comes 80 great frustration;
whoever increases his 81 knowledge merely 82 increases his 83 heartache.