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 1,11 Pred 1,11
For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!
{Or, O thou enemy, desolations are come to a perpetual end}The enemy are come to an end, they are desolate for ever; {Or, And their cities thou hast overthrown.}And the cities which thou hast {Hebrew: plucked up}overthrown,The very remembrance of them is perished.
Let them bring forth, and declare unto us what shall happen: declare ye the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.
Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may {Or, look one upon another}be dismayed, and behold it together.
Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you.
I have raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the rising of the sun one that calleth upon my name: and he shall come upon {Or, deputies}rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.
Who hath declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is right? yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.