Ecclesiastes:1-2.
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The words of the Preacher ,
the son of David ,
king in Jerusalem .
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Vanity of vanities ,
says the Preacher ,
vanity of vanities !
All is vanity .
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What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun ?
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A generation goes ,
and a generation comes ,
but the earth remains for ever .
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The sun rises and the sun goes down ,
and hastens to the place where it rises .
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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 .
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All streams run to the sea ,
but the sea is not full ;
to the place where the streams flow ,
there they flow again .
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All things are full of weariness ;
a man cannot utter it ;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing ,
nor the ear filled with hearing .
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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 .
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Is there a thing of which it is said , "
See ,
this is new "?
It has been already ,
in the ages before us .
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There is no remembrance of former things ,
nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after .
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I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem .
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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 .
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I have seen everything that is done under the sun ;
and behold ,
all is vanity and a striving after wind .
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What is crooked cannot be made straight ,
and what is lacking cannot be numbered .
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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 ."
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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 .
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For in much wisdom is much vexation ,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow .
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I said to myself , "
Come now ,
I will make a test of pleasure ;
enjoy yourself ."
But behold ,
this also was vanity .
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I said of laughter , "
It is mad ,"
and of pleasure , "
What use is it ?"
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I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine--my mind still guiding me with wisdom--and how to lay hold on folly ,
till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life .
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I made great works ;
I built houses and planted vineyards for myself ;
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I made myself gardens and parks ,
and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees .
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I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees .
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I bought male and female slaves ,
and had slaves who were born in my house ;
I had also great possessions of herds and flocks ,
more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem .
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I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces ;
I got singers ,
both men and women ,
and many concubines ,
man '
s delight .
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So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem ;
also my wisdom remained with me .
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And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them ;
I kept my heart from no pleasure ,
for my heart found pleasure in all my toil ,
and this was my reward for all my toil .
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Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it ,
and behold ,
all was vanity and a striving after wind ,
and there was nothing to be gained under the sun .
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So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly ;
for what can the man do who comes after the king ?
Only what he has already done .
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Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness .
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The wise man has his eyes in his head ,
but the fool walks in darkness ;
and yet I perceived that one fate comes to all of them .
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Then I said to myself , "
What befalls the fool will befall me also ;
why then have I been so very wise ?"
And I said to myself that this also is vanity .
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For of the wise man as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance ,
seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten .
How the wise man dies just like the fool !
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So I hated life ,
because what is done under the sun was grievous to me ;
for all is vanity and a striving after wind .
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I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun ,
seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me ;
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and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool ?
Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun .
This also is vanity .
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So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun ,
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because sometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it .
This also is vanity and a great evil .
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What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun ?
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For all his days are full of pain ,
and his work is a vexation ;
even in the night his mind does not rest .
This also is vanity .
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There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink ,
and find enjoyment in his toil .
This also ,
I saw ,
is from the hand of God ;
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for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment ?
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For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy ;
but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping ,
only to give to one who pleases God .
This also is vanity and a striving after wind .
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For everything there is a season ,
and a time for every matter under heaven :
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