| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: | 1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. |
| 2"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." | 2"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." |
| 3What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? | 3What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? |
| 4Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. | 4A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. |
| 5The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. | 5Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again. |
| 6The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. | 6Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. |
| 7All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. | 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, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. | 8All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. |
| 9What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. | 9That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So 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. | 10Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new "? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. |
| 11No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. | 11There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still. |
| 12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. | 12I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. |
| 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! | 13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. |
| 14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. | 14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. |
| 15What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. | 15What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. |
| 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." | 16I said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge." |
| 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. | 17And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. |
| 18For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. | 18Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
|
