The words of {Hebrew: Koheleth}the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun?
One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever.
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.
All the {Or, torrents}rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.
{Or, All words are feeble}All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
There is no remembrance of the former generations; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and {Or, a feeding on wind (see Hosea 12:1) Or, vexation of spirit (and so elsewhere)}a striving after wind.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and {Hebrew: defect}that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom {Or, yea, more than all}above all that were before me {Hebrew: over.}in Jerusalem; yea, my heart {Hebrew: hath seen abundantly.}hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.
For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
Querverweise zu Prediger 1,6 Pred 1,6
Out of the chamber of the south cometh the storm,And cold out of the {Hebrew: scattering winds.}north.
{Or, Thou whose garments are &c.}How thy garments are warm, {Or, When he quieteth the earth by the south wind}When the earth is still by reason of the south wind?
For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind,Which lifteth up the waves thereof.
He maketh the storm a calm,So that the waves thereof are still.
But Jehovah {Or, hurled}sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock:
and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof.
{Or, The Spirit breatheth}The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close in shore.
But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euraquilo:
and when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven.