The Message Bible MSG
New International Version NIV
9 What was will be again, what happened will happen again. There's nothing new on this earth. Year after year it's the same old thing.
9
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"? Don't get excited - it's the same old story.
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 Nobody remembers what happened yesterday. And the things that will happen tomorrow? Nobody'll remember them either. Don't count on being remembered.
11
No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.
12 Call me "the Quester." I've been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
12
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 I looked most carefully into everything, searched out all that is done on this earth. And let me tell you, there's not much to write home about. God hasn't made it easy for us.
13
I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!
14 I've seen it all and it's nothing but smoke - smoke, and spitting into the wind.
14
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 Life's a corkscrew that can't be straightened, A minus that won't add up.
15
What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, "I know more and I'm wiser than anyone before me in Jerusalem. I've stockpiled wisdom and knowledge."
16
I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 What I've finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless - nothing but spitting into the wind.
17
Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 Much learning earns you much trouble. The more you know, the more you hurt.
18
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.