¹The words of the convener, the son of David, the king in Jerusalem.

²“Vanity of vanities,”

Says the convener,

“Vanity of vanities;

All is vanity.

³What is the benefit to a man

Of all his toil which he toils at

Under the sun?

⁴A generation goes and a generation comes,

But the world stands age-abidingly.

⁵And the sun rises, and the sun sets,

Then it draws towards its place

Where it rises again.

⁶It goes to the south, and it turns to the north;

Turning and turning, the wind goes,

And by its round trips

The wind returns.

⁷All the streams go to the sea,

But the sea is not full.

To the place where the streams flow,

There they return to flow again.

⁸Everything is wearisome;

No-one can utter it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

And the ear is not filled with hearing.

⁹What has been is what will be,

And what has been done is what will be done,

And there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there anything of which it can be said,

‘Look, this is new’?

It was already in existence in ancient times

– Something which existed before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of the former things,

Nor will there be any remembrance of the latter things which will be,

With those who will be in existence

In the latter time.

¹²I, the convener, became king over Israel in Jerusalem, ¹³and I decided to seek and investigate by means of wisdom everything that has been done under heaven. It is a troublesome matter that God has given the sons of Adam to be afflicted by. ¹⁴I have seen all the works which are done under the sun, and look, everything is vanity and idle pursuit.

¹⁵That which is crooked

Cannot be made straight,

And that which is lacking

Cannot be counted.

¹⁶I spoke to myself deep down and said, ‘Here I am; I have become great, and I have increased in wisdom more than everyone who was before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.’ ¹⁷And I devoted my heart to knowing wisdom, and to knowledge of folly and foolishness, and I came to know that this too is idle pursuit.

¹⁸For in much wisdom there is much annoyance,

And he who increases knowledge

Increases sorrow.