[1:1] The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
[1:2] Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
[1:3] What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
[1:4] A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
[1:5] The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
[1:6] The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.
[1:7] All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
[1:8] All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
[1:9] What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
[1:10] Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.
[1:11] There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.