Ecclesiastes 1
1 [I am Solomon], the son of [King] David. [I rule] in Jerusalem [and people call me] ‘The (Preacher/Religious Teacher)’.
The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.
2 I say that everything is mysterious; everything is hard for me to understand; it is difficult to understand why everything happens.
Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.
3 (What do people gain from all the work that they do here on the earth?/It seems that people gain no lasting benefit from all the work that they do here on the earth.) [RHQ]
What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the sun?
4 [Each year] old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes.
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth standeth for ever.
5 [Each morning] the sun rises, and [each evening] it sets, and [then] it hurries around to where it started from.
The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and there rising again,
6 The wind blows south, and then it [turns around to start blowing towards] the north. It goes around and around in circles.
Maketh his round by the south, and turneth again to the north: the spirit goeth forward surveying all places round about, and returneth to his circuits.
7 All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is never full. The water returns [to the sky], and [when it rains], the water returns to the rivers, and it flows again to the sea.
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow: unto the place from whence the rivers come, they return, to flow again.
8 Everything is boring, [with the result that] we do not even want to talk about it. We [SYN] see things, but we always want to see more. We [SYN] hear things, but we always want to hear more.
All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing.
9 [Everything continues to be the same as it has always been]; things that happen have happened previously, and they will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing [really] new in this world [MTY].
What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is it that hath been done? the same that shall be done.
10 Sometimes people say, “Look at this! This is something new [RHQ]!” But it has existed previously; it existed before we were born.
Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: Behold this is new: for it hath already gone before in the ages that were before us.
11 [People] do not remember the things [that happened] long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now.
There is no remembrance of former things: nor indeed of those things which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance with them that shall be in the latter end.
12 I, the Religious Teacher, have been the king of Israel [for many years, ruling] in Jerusalem.
I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem,
13 By being wise, I concentrated on understanding everything that was being done on the earth [MTY]. [But I found out that] God causes [all of] us to experience things that cause us to be unhappy/miserable.
And I proposed in my mind to seek and search out wisely concerning all things that are done under the sun. This painful occupation hath God given to the children of men, to be exercised therein.
14 It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is [like] [MET] chasing the wind.
I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity, and vexation of spirit.
15 [Many] things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight; we cannot count things that do not exist.
The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is infinite.
16 I said to myself, “[Hey], I am wiser than any of the kings that ruled in Jerusalem before I [became the king]. I am wiser and I know more than any of them!”
I have spoken in my heart, saying: Behold I am become great, and have gone beyond all in wisdom, that were before me in Jerusalem: and my mind hath contemplated many things wisely, and I have learned.
17 [So] I determined to learn [more] about being wise and to learn about knowing about many things, and [also] to learn about [doing things that are] very foolish [DOU]. [But] I found out that trying to understand those things was also [useless, like] chasing the wind.
And I have given my heart to know prudence, and learning, and errors, and folly: and I have perceived that in these also there was labour, and vexation of spirit,
18 The wiser I became, the more disappointed I became. The more things I knew about, the sadder I became.
Because In much wisdom there is much indignation: and he that addeth knowledge, addeth also labour.
