Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Nothing has a purpose

1 These are the words of the Teacher, David's son, who ruled as king in Jerusalem.

1:1Jerusalem was the capital city of Israel.

2 The Teacher says,

‘Nothing has a purpose.

Nothing that ever happens seems to have a purpose.’

3 People work very hard while they live on the earth.

But in the end, what do they receive in return for their work?

4 Old people die and then their children live after them.

But the earth continues and it never changes.

5 The sun rises in the morning

and it disappears in the evening.

Then it quickly moves to rise again the next morning.

6 The wind blows to the south.

Then it turns to the north.

It blows in every direction.

Then it starts again.

7 All rivers pour water into the sea,

but the sea does not become full.

The water returns to the rivers and it all happens again.

8 Everything continues in the same way.

There is nothing important to talk about.

Nothing that we see is enough to make us happy.

There are always more things that we want to hear.

9 Things that are happening now will continue to happen in the future.

What people have done before

other people will do again.

There is nothing truly new anywhere on the earth.

10 People may say, ‘Look! Here is something new!’

But really it happened long ago,

before we were born.

11 People do not remember things that happened in the past.

In the future, people will not remember what has happened either.