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Ecclesiastes 1:4-11
New American Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 1:4-11
New American Standard Bible
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the (A)earth [a]remains forever.
5 Also, (B)the sun rises and the sun sets;
And [b]hurrying to its place it rises there again.
6 [c](C)Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues [d]swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.
7 All the rivers [e]flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers [f]flow,
There they [g]flow again.
8 All things are wearisome;
No one can tell it.
(D)The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 (E)What has been, it is what will be,
And what has been done, it is what will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new”?
It has already existed for ages
Which were before us.
11 There is (F)no remembrance of the [h]earlier things,
And of the later things as well, which will occur,
There will be no remembrance of them
Among those who will come later still.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:4 Lit stands
- Ecclesiastes 1:5 Lit panting
- Ecclesiastes 1:6 Lit Going
- Ecclesiastes 1:6 Lit turning
- Ecclesiastes 1:7 Lit go
- Ecclesiastes 1:7 Lit go
- Ecclesiastes 1:7 Lit go
- Ecclesiastes 1:11 Lit first; or former
Ecclesiastes 1:4-11
Common English Bible
Ecclesiastes 1:4-11
Common English Bible
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains as it always has.
5 The sun rises, the sun sets;
it returns panting to the place where it dawns.
6 The wind blows to the south,
goes around to the north;
around and around blows the wind;
the wind returns to its rounds again.
7 All streams flow to the sea,
but the sea is never full;
to the place where the rivers flow,
there they continue to flow.
8 All words[a] are tiring;
no one is able to speak.
The eye isn’t satisfied with seeing,
neither is the ear filled up by hearing.
9 Whatever has happened—that’s what will happen again;
whatever has occurred—that’s what will occur again.
There’s nothing new under the sun. 10 People may say about something: “Look at this! It’s new!” But it was already around for ages before us. 11 There’s no remembrance of things in the past, nor of things to come in the future. Neither will there be any remembrance among those who come along in the future.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:8 Or things
Ecclesiastes 1:4-11
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 1:4-11
New International Version
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.(A)
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.(B)
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.(C)
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,(D)
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;(E)
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,(F)
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.(G)
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
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.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.