| King James Bible | NET Bible |
| 1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. | 1The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem: |
| 2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. | 2"Futile! Futile!" laments the Teacher, "Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!" |
| 3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? | 3What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth? |
| 4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. | 4A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth remains the same through the ages. |
| 5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. | 5The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again. |
| 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. | 6The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north; round and round the wind goes and on its rounds it returns. |
| 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. | 7All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full, and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again. |
| 8All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. | 8All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing. |
| 9The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. | 9What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. |
| 10Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. | 10Is there anything about which someone can say, "Look at this! It is new!"? It was already done long ago, before our time. |
| 11There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. | 11No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations. |
| 12I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. | 12I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. |
| 13And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. | 13I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth. I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied. |
| 14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. | 14I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile--like chasing the wind! |
| 15That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. | 15What is bent cannot be straightened, and what is missing cannot be supplied. |
| 16I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. | 16I thought to myself, "I have become much wiser than any of my predecessors who ruled over Jerusalem; I have acquired much wisdom and knowledge." |
| 17And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. | 17So I decided to discern the benefit of wisdom and knowledge over foolish behavior and ideas; however, I concluded that even this endeavor is like trying to chase the wind! |
| 18For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. | 18For with great wisdom comes great frustration; whoever increases his knowledge merely increases his heartache. |
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