10. Can one say about anything,“Look, this is new”?It has already existed in the ages before us.
11. There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come afterthere will also be no remembranceby those who follow them.
12. I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13. I applied my mind to seek and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.
14. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
15. What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
16. I said to myself, “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.”
17. I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.
18. For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.