Ecclesiastes:1

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* The words of the Preacher , the son of David , king in Jerusalem . * Vanity of vanities , says the Preacher , vanity of vanities ! All is vanity . * What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun ? * A generation goes , and a generation comes , but the earth remains for ever . * The sun rises and the sun goes down , and hastens to the place where it rises . * The wind blows to the south , and goes round to the north ; round and round goes the wind , and on its circuits the wind returns . * All streams run to the sea , but the sea is not full ; to the place where the streams flow , there they flow again . * All things are full of weariness ; a man cannot utter it ; the eye is not satisfied with seeing , nor the ear filled with hearing . * What has been is what will be , and what has been done is what will be done ; and there is nothing new under the sun . * Is there a thing of which it is said , "See , this is new "? It has been already , in the ages before us . * There is no remembrance of former things , nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after . * I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem . * And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven ; it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with . * I have seen everything that is done under the sun ; and behold , all is vanity and a striving after wind . * What is crooked cannot be made straight , and what is lacking cannot be numbered . * I said to myself , "I have acquired great wisdom , surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me ; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge ." * And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly . I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind . * For in much wisdom is much vexation , and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow .

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