8. Words cannot fully explain things, but people continue speaking. Words come again and again to our ears, but our ears don’t become full. And our eyes don’t become full of what we see.
9. All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. The same things will be done that have always been done. There is nothing new in this life.
10. Someone might say, “Look, this is new,” but that thing has always been here. It was here before we were.
11. People don’t remember what happened long ago. In the future, they will not remember what is happening now. And later, other people will not remember what the people before them did.
12. I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13. I decided to study and to use my wisdom to learn about everything that is done in this life. I learned that it is a very hard thing that God has given us to do.
14. I looked at everything done on earth, and I saw that it is all a waste of time. It is like trying to catch the wind.