Everything Is Futile

1 These are the words of the Teacher,[fn] the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 “Futility [fn] of futilities,”

says the Teacher,

“futility of futilities!

Everything is futile!”

3 What does a man gain from all his labor,

at which he toils under the sun?

4 Generations come and generations go,

but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets;

it hurries back to where it rises.

6 The wind blows southward,

then turns northward;

round and round it swirls,

ever returning on its course.

7 All the rivers flow into the sea,

yet the sea is never full;

to the place from which the streams come,

there again they flow.

8 All things are wearisome,

more than one can describe;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear content with hearing.

9 What has been will be again,

and what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there a case where one can say,

“Look, this is new”?

It has already existed

in the ages before us.

11 There is no remembrance

of those who came before,

and those yet to come will not be remembered

by those who follow after.