Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Vanity of Human Toil
3 What profit have we from all the toil
which we toil at under the sun?[b](B)
4 One generation departs and another generation comes,
but the world forever stays.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
then it presses on to the place where it rises.
6 Shifting south, then north,
back and forth shifts the wind, constantly shifting its course.
7 All rivers flow to the sea,
yet never does the sea become full.
To the place where they flow,
the rivers continue to flow.
8 All things are wearisome,[c]
too wearisome for words.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing
nor has the ear enough of hearing.(C)
9 What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun!(D) 10 Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us.(E) 11 There is no remembrance of past generations;(F) nor will future generations be remembered by those who come after them.[d]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1:2 Vanity of vanities: a Hebrew superlative expressing the supreme degree of futility and emptiness.
- 1:3 Under the sun: used throughout this book to signify “on the earth.”
- 1:8 All things are wearisome: or, “All speech is wearisome.”
- 1:11 Movement in nature and human activity appears to result in change and progress. The author argues that this change and progress are an illusion: “Nothing is new under the sun.”
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