Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 1

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 The words of David's son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem:	1 Composition of Qoheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!	2 Sheer futility, Qoheleth says. Sheer futility: everything is futile!
3 What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?	3 What profit can we show for al our toil, toiling under the sun?
4 One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.	4 A generation goes, a generation comes, yet the earth stands firm for ever.
5 The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises.	5 The sun rises, the sun sets; then to its place it speeds and there it rises.
6 Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.	6 Southward goes the wind, then turns to the north; it turns and turns again; then back to its circling goesthe wind.
7 All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going.	7 Into the sea go al the rivers, and yet the sea is never fil ed, and stil to their goal the rivers go.
8 All speech is labored; there is nothing man can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing.	8 Al things are wearisome. No one can say that eyes have not had enough of seeing, ears their fil ofhearing.
9 What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.	9 What was, wil be again, what has been done, wil be done again, and there is nothing new under thesun!
10 Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us.	10 Take anything which people acclaim as being new: it existed in the centuries preceding us.
11 There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.	11 No memory remains of the past, and so it wil be for the centuries to come -- they will not beremembered by their successors.
12 I, Qoheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem,	12 I, Qoheleth, have reigned over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 and I applied my mind to search and investigate in wisdom all things that are done under the sun. A thankless task God has appointed for men to be busied about.	13 Wisely I have applied myself to investigation and exploration of everything that happens under heaven.What a wearisome task God has given humanity to keep us busy!
14 I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind.	14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun: how futile it al is, mere chasing after the wind!
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is missing cannot be supplied.	15 What is twisted cannot be straightened, what is not there cannot be counted.
16 Though I said to myself, "Behold, I have become great and stored up wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has broad experience of wisdom and knowledge";	16 I thought to myself: I have acquired a greater stock of wisdom than anyone before me in Jerusalem. Imyself have mastered every kind of wisdom and science.
17 yet when I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly, I learned that this also is a chase after wind.	17 I have applied myself to understanding philosophy and science, stupidity and fol y, and I now realisethat all this too is chasing after the wind.
18 For in much wisdom there is much sorrow, and he who stores up knowledge stores up grief.	18 Much wisdom, much grief; the more knowledge, the more sorrow.