A generation goes and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.(A)
The sun rises and the sun sets;
panting, it hurries back to the place(B)
where it rises.
Gusting to the south,
turning to the north,
turning, turning, goes the wind,(C)
and the wind returns in its cycles.
All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
All things[a] are wearisome,
more than anyone can say.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing(D)
or the ear filled with hearing.
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 Can one say about anything,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of those who[b] came before;(E)
and of those who will come after
there will also be no remembrance
by those who follow them.

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Notas al pie

  1. 1:8 Or words
  2. 1:11 Or of the things that

The Predictability of Life

A generation goes,
    a generation comes,
        but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises,
    the sun sets,
        then rushes back to where it arose.
The wind blows southward,
    then northward, constantly circulating,
        and the wind comes back again in its courses.
All the rivers flow toward the sea,
    but the sea is never full;
        then rivers return to the headwaters[a] where they began.

Everything is wearisome,
    more than man is able to express.
The eye is never satisfied by seeing,
    nor the ear by hearing.
Whatever has happened, will happen again;
    whatever has been done, will be done again.
        There is nothing new on earth.
10 Does anything exist about which someone might say,
    “Look at this! Is this new?”
It happened ages ago;
    it existed before we did.
11 No one remembers those in the past,
    nor will they be remembered
        by those who come after them.

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Notas al pie

  1. Ecclesiastes 1:7 Lit. place