1These are the words of the Teacher,1:1 Or the Convener or the Preacher or the leader of the assembly; Hebrew Qoheleth is rendered as the Teacher throughout Ecclesiastes. the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2“Futility 1:2 Literally vapor or breath; the Hebrew words translated in Ecclesiastes as forms of futile or fleeting can also be translated as vanity or meaningless. of futilities,”
3What does a man gain from all his labor,
4Generations come and generations go,
5The sun rises and the sun sets;
6The wind blows southward,
7All the rivers flow into the sea,
8All things are wearisome,
9What has been will be again,
10Is there a case where one can say,
11There is no remembrance
12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
15What is crooked cannot be straightened,
16I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”
17So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
18For with much wisdom comes much sorrow,