1. These are the words of the Teacher. He was the son of David. He was also king in Jerusalem.
2. "Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Everything is completely meaningless! Nothing has any meaning."
3. What does a man get for all of his work? Why does he work so hard on this earth?
4. People come and people go. But the earth remains forever.
5. The sun rises. Then it sets. And then it hurries back to where it rises.
6. The wind blows to the south. Then it turns to the north. Around and around it goes. It always returns to where it started.
7. Every stream flows into the ocean. But the ocean never gets full. The streams return to the place they came from.
8. All things are tiresome. They are more tiresome than anyone can say. But our eyes never see enough of anything. Our ears never hear enough.
9. Everything that has ever been will come back again. Everything that has ever been done will be done again. Nothing is new on earth.
10. There isn't anything about which someone can say, "Look! Here's something new." It was already here long ago. It was here before we were.