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Ecclesiastes 1

1 The following is the written lecture of the Teacher, who was a descendant of David and who ruled as king in Jerusalem. 2 The Teacher said:

Every aspect of human life is as frustratingly temporary and insubstantial

as the fading mist of my breath!

Everything is absolutely vaporous!

3 I want to know whether the never-ending labor of being alive in this world

ever produces any sense of satisfaction or joy in this life

that makes the labor of life worthwhile.

4 One generation of people dies, and another generation is born.

Nonetheless, nothing seems to change.

5 The sun rises every morning and sets each evening.

Then, it hurries back to the eastern horizon,

from which it will predictably rise again.

6 The wind blows southward.

Then, it changes direction and blows northward.

It continuously seems to go around and around,

and yet, it always seems to go where it is supposed to go.

7 All rivers and streams eventually flow into the ocean,

but the ocean is never full.

Instead, all that water will continue to flow ceaselessly

wherever it has always flowed.

8 These repetitive natural processes

only make humanity indescribably tired.

Similarly, no matter how much people have seen in their lives,

they will always want to see more;

no matter how much people have heard in their lives,

they will always want to hear more.

9 Whatever happened in the past will inevitably happen again.

Likewise, whatever people have done in the past, people will inevitably do it again.

Nothing happens that is ever truly new.

10 Now, someone might claim

to have discovered something genuinely novel.

But, in reality, someone discovered it a long time ago,

in times long since past.

11 No one ever remembers the people or the events of the past.

The same will be true of the people and events of the future,

and even of those after that!

12 Now imagine that I, the Teacher, was Solomon, who ruled as the king of Israel in the city of Jerusalem. 13 As Solomon, I resolved within myself to use my intellect and my understanding of the world to study everything that people do during their lives on this earth. I initially discovered that God has employed every human being in the difficult and burdensome job of being alive. 14 Yes, I looked around and observed everything that people do during their lives. Now pay attention! I saw that our lives are as temporary and insubstantial as the fading mist of my breath. Humanity's endless labor is often as silly and frustrating as trying to grab a handful of the wind.

15 It is just like people say:

“No one can fix what appears broken,

and no one can count what is not there.”

16 So, I mused to myself, “Now, pay attention! You know that I, Solomon, have become wiser than any other king who has ever reigned in Jerusalem. I have experienced first-hand what it means to be exceptionally wise and intelligent.” 17 Having said this, I resolved to learn more about what it means to be wise, as well as what it means to be stupid and insane, by personal experience. I initially discovered that even these pursuits were as silly and frustrating as trying to grab a handful of the wind.

18 It is like people also say:

“The wiser one gets, the angrier and more depressed they feel;

knowing more about life only makes life hurt more.”

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