The Vanity of Life

¹ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
² “ Vanity^[a] of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
³ What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he toils under the sun?
⁴ One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
But the earth abides forever.
⁵ The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And hastens to the place where it arose.
⁶ The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.
⁷ All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.
⁸ All things are full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.
⁹ That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Is there anything of which it may be said,

“ See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
¹¹ There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.

The Grief of Wisdom

¹² I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. ¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be made straight,
And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

¹⁶ I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.
¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.