Ecclesiastes 1:1-12
New American Standard Bible
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.
6 Blowing 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.
King James Version
Christian Standard Bible
2"Absolute futility," says the Teacher. "Absolute futility. Everything is futile."
3What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?
4A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
5The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it returns to the place where it rises.
6Gusting to the south, turning to the north, turning, turning, goes the wind, and the wind returns in its cycles.
7All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
8All things are wearisome, more than anyone can say. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.
9What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
10Can one say about anything, "Look, this is new"? It has already existed in the ages before us.
11There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come after there will also be no remembrance by those who follow them.
New Living Translation
3What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
4Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
5The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
6The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.
7Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.
8Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
9History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
10Sometimes people say, 'Here is something new!' But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.
11We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
English Standard Version
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
4A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
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.
7All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
8All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
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.
10Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us.
11There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
12I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
New International Version
2"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
3What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
4Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
6The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
7All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
8All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
11No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.
New King James Version
2“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose.
6 The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.
7 All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.
8All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.
