² “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.
“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”
³ What does a person gain for all his efforts
that he labors at under the sun?
⁴ A generation goes and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets;
panting, it hurries back to the place
where it rises.
⁶ Gusting to the south,
turning to the north,
turning, turning, goes the wind,
and the wind returns in its cycles.
⁷ All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
⁸ All things^[b] are wearisome,
more than anyone can say.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing
or the ear filled with hearing.
⁹ What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Can one say about anything,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed in the ages before us.
¹¹ There is no remembrance of those who^[c] came before;
and of those who will come after
there will also be no remembrance
by those who follow them.

¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁸ For with much wisdom is much sorrow;
as knowledge increases, grief increases.