2Futility of futilities, says the Preacher; futility of futilities, everything is futility!

3What profit has a son of man in all the toil that he toils under the sun?

4A generation goes and a generation comes, and Earth stands to eternity

5The sun rises and the sun sets, and to the place where it rises it is returning; from there it will rise again.

6It goes to the South and is circled to the North and the wind goes to its circuits and the wind returns

7All rivers run sea into the sea and the sea is not filled. The place to which the torrents depart, there they return

8All accounts are wearisome; a man will not be satisfied to speak and the eye is not satisfied to see and the ear is not filled with hearing

9Whatever was, is, and what was done, that is done. and there is nothing new under the sun

10Everyone who will speak and will say, "see, this is new", surely it was from the ages which were before us

11There is no memory for former things, neither will they who are afterwards have memory for later things

12I, The Preacher, have been King over Israel in Jerusalem 13I have given my heart to seek and to understand by wisdom all that is done under the sun; an evil task LORD JEHOVAH gives the children of men to practice in it 14I have seen all the work that is done under the sun, and behold, everything is futility and agitation of spirit 15The disturbed cannot be set in order and the lacking cannot be numbered.

16I spoke with my heart, saying: "behold, I am great and I have increased in wisdom above all who have been before me in Jerusalem", and my heart saw a multitude of wisdom and of knowledge. 17And I gave my heart to know wisdom and knowledge, proverbs and understanding, and I have known that this is also agitation of spirit 18Because with abundance of wisdom is much grief, and he that increases knowing increases sorrow.