Ecclesiastes 1  New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

² Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,^[b]
    vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
³ What do people gain from all the toil
    at which they toil under the sun?
⁴ A generation goes, and a generation comes,
    but the earth remains for ever.
⁵ The sun rises and the sun goes down,
    and hurries to the place where it rises.
⁶ 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.
⁷ All streams run to the sea,
    but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
    there they continue to flow.
⁸ All things^[c] are wearisome;
    more than one can express;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
    or the ear filled with hearing.
⁹ What has been is what will be,
    and what has been done is what will be done;
    there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Is there a thing of which it is said,
    ‘See, this is new’?
It has already been,
    in the ages before us.
¹¹ The people of long ago are not remembered,
    nor will there be any remembrance
of people yet to come
    by those who come after them.

¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be made straight,
    and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.