| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. | 1The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: |
| 2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. | 2"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." |
| 3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? | 3What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? |
| 4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. | 4Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. |
| 5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. | 5The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. |
| 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 blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. |
| 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 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 full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. | 8All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of 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 has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. |
| 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 of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here 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 generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. |
| 12I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. | 12I, the Teacher, was 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 applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! |
| 14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. | 14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. |
| 15That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. | 15What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. |
| 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 said to myself, "Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of 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. | 17Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. |
| 18For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. | 18For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. |
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