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

²“Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “Futility of futilities! All is futility.”

³What advantage does a person have in all his work Which he does under the sun?

⁴A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.

⁵Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hurrying to its place it rises there again.

⁶Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns.

⁷All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.

⁸All things are wearisome; No one can tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

⁹What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? It has already existed for ages Which were before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of the earlier things, And of the later things as well, which will occur, There will be no remembrance of them Among those who will come later still.

¹²I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.

¹⁴I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is futility and striving after wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is striving after wind.

¹⁸Because in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

¹I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.

²I said of laughter, “It is senseless,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”

³I explored with my mind how to refresh my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely; and how to seize foolishness, until I could see what good there is for the sons of mankind to do under heaven for the few years of their lives.

⁴I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself;

⁵I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;

⁶I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves, and I had slaves born at home. I also possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

⁸I also amassed for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers, and the pleasures of the sons of mankind: many concubines.

⁹Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.

¹⁰All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor.

¹¹So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.

¹²So I turned to consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness; for what will the man do who will come after the king, except what has already been done?

¹³Then I saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness.

¹⁴The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to both of them.

¹⁵Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is futility.”

¹⁶For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will soon be forgotten. And how the wise and the fool alike die!

¹⁷So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

¹⁸So I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is futility.

²⁰Therefore I completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.

²¹When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil.

²²For what does a person get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?

²³Because all his days his activity is painful and irritating; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is futility.

²⁴There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink, and show himself some good in his trouble. This too I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.

²⁵For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

²⁶For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is futility and striving after wind.

¹There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven—

²A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

³A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.

⁴A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

⁵A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

⁶A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

⁷A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.

⁸A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors?

¹⁰I have seen the task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to occupy themselves.

¹¹He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;

¹³moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will fear Him.

¹⁵That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God seeks what has passed by.

¹⁶Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

¹⁷I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.

¹⁸I said to myself regarding the sons of mankind, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as animals, they to themselves.”

¹⁹For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility.

²⁰All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.

²¹Who knows that the spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth?

²²I have seen that nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?

¹Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and power was on the side of their oppressors, but they had no one to comfort them.

²So I congratulated the dead who are already dead, more than the living who are still living.

³But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

⁴I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a person and his neighbor. This too is futility and striving after wind.

⁵The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.

⁶One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

⁷Then I looked again at futility under the sun.

⁸There was a man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches, and he never asked, “And for whom do I labor and deprive myself of pleasure?” This too is futility, and it is an unhappy task.

⁹Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor;

¹⁰for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up!

¹¹Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?

¹²And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

¹³A poor yet wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction—

¹⁴for he has come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.

¹⁵I have seen all those living under the sun move to the side of the second youth who replaces him.

¹⁶There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them. Even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him; for this too is futility and striving after wind.