1. The words of Qoheleth, son of Dawiḏ, sovereign in Yerushalayim.
2. “Futility! Futility!” says Qoheleth. “Futility, futility, all is futile!”
3. What does man gain from all his labour in which he toils under the sun?
4. A generation passes away, and a generation comes, but the earth stands forever.
5. The sun also rises, and the sun sets, and hurries back to the place where it arose.
6. Going to the south, and turning round to the north, turning, turning, and on its rounds the wind returns.
7. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea never overflows. To the place from which the rivers come, there they return again.
8. All matters are wearisome, no one is able to speak of it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9. What has been is what shall be, what has been done is what shall be done, and there is no new matter under the sun.