Ecclesiastes 1:1-7
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.
King James Version
Chapter 1
1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
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 hurries back 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.
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.
English Standard Version
2Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3What 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.
5The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
6The 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.
New International Version
2Meaningless! 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.
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.