| 1:1 | The words of the spokesman, the son of David and the king in Jerusalem. |
| 1:2 | "Absolutely pointless!" says the spokesman. "Absolutely pointless! Everything is pointless." |
| 1:3 | What do people gain from all their hard work under the sun? |
| 1:4 | Generations come, and generations go, but the earth lasts forever. |
| 1:5 | The sun rises, and the sun sets, and then it rushes back to the place where it will rise again. |
| 1:6 | The wind blows toward the south and shifts toward the north. Round and round it blows. It blows in a full circle. |
| 1:7 | All streams flow into the sea, but the sea is never full. The water goes back to the place where the streams began in order to start flowing again. |
| 1:8 | All of these sayings are wornout phrases. They are more than anyone can express, comprehend, or understand. |
| 1:9 | Whatever has happened before will happen again. Whatever has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. |
| 1:10 | Can you say that anything is new? It has already been here long before us. |
| 1:11 | Nothing from the past is remembered. Even in the future, nothing will be remembered by those who come after us. |
| 1:12 | I, the spokesman, have been king of Israel in Jerusalem. |
| 1:13 | With all my heart I used wisdom to study and explore everything done under heaven. Mortals are weighed down with a terrible burden that God has placed on them. |
| 1:14 | I have seen everything that is done under the sun. Look at it! It's all pointless. It's like trying to catch the wind. |
| 1:15 | No one can straighten what is bent. No one can count what is not there. |
| 1:16 | I thought to myself, "I have grown wiser than anyone who has ruled Jerusalem before me. I've had a lot of experience with wisdom and knowledge." |
| 1:17 | I've used my mind to understand wisdom and knowledge as well as madness and stupidity. Now I know that this is like trying to catch the wind. |
| 1:18 | With a lot of wisdom comes a lot of heartache. The greater your knowledge, the greater your pain. |
Ecclesiastes 1 - God's Word Translation
