The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The words of Kohelet the son of David, king in Yerushalayim:
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The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Pointless! Pointless! - says Kohelet -Utterly meaningless! Nothing matters!
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All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.
3 What does a person gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
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What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?
4 Generations come, generations go, but the earth remains forever.
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One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.
5 The sun rises, the sun sets; then it speeds to its place and rises there.
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The sun comes up and the sun goes down, and goes quickly back to the place where he came up.
6 The wind blows south, then it turns north; the wind blows all around and keeps returning to its rounds.
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The wind goes to the south, turning back again to the north; circling round for ever.
7 All the rivers flow to the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers flow, there they keep on flowing.
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All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, there they go again.
8 Everything is wearisome, more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, the ear not filled up with hearing.
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All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.
9 What has been is what will be, what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
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That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there something of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It existed already in the ages before us.
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Is there anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was before us.
11 No one remembers the people of long ago; and those to come will not be remembered by those who come after them.
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There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.
12 I, Kohelet, have been king over Isra'el in Yerushalayim.
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I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 I wisely applied myself to seek out and investigate everything done under heaven. What a bothersome task God has given humanity to keep us occupied!
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And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.
14 I have seen all the activities that are done under the sun, and it's all pointless, feeding on wind.
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I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.
15 What is crooked can't be straightened; what is not there can't be counted.
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That which is bent may not be made straight, and that which is not there may not be numbered.
16 I said to myself, "Look, I have acquired much wisdom, more than anyone ruling Yerushalayim before me."Yes, I experienced a great deal of wisdom and knowledge;
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I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.
17 yet when I applied myself to understanding wisdom and knowledge, as well as stupidity and folly, I came to see that this too was merely feeding on wind.
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And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief; the more knowledge, the more suffering.
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Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.