The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jeruselum:
Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.
What does man gain from all his labour at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south and turns to the north: round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the seas, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say, look! this is something new?
It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven.
What a heavy burden God has laid on men!
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
I thought to myself,
look I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;
I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.
Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly,
but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
Laughter, I said, is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?
I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly-my mind still guiding me with wisdom.
I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects; I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.
I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labour.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly.
What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done?
I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.
The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in darkness;
but I came to realise that the same fate overtakes them both.
Then I thought in my heart, the fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise? I said in my heart, this too is meaningless.
For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me.
All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour under the sun.
For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill,
and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it.
This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labours under the sun?
All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.
This too, I see, is from the hand of God.
for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
A time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
What does the worker gain from his toil?
I have seen the burden God has laid on men.
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
I know that there is nothing better for men then to be happy and do good while they live.
That everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his toil-that is the gift of God.
I know that everything God does will endure forever;
nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.
God does it so that men will revere him.
Whatever is has already been and what will be has been before...
Ecclesiastes 1-3
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