Ecclesiastes 1:4-11
New Catholic Bible
Introductory Poem[a]
There Is Nothing New under the Sun
4 One generation passes away and another generation succeeds it,
but the earth stands firm forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
then it returns to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows southward and then veers to the north,
constantly turning as it repeats its course.
7 All the rivers go to the sea,
and yet the sea never overflows,
for the rivers continue to return
to their place of origin.
8 All things[b] are wearisome
and very difficult to express.
The eyes are not satisfied with seeing
and the ears do not have their fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be so again,
and what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Whatever is perceived to be new
has already existed in the ages before us.
11 Those people who died in ages past
are no longer remembered,
and the people yet to be born
will not be remembered by those who come after them.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:4 The author takes the opposite tack to the wonder and adoration excited by the universe in Job (chs. 38–40); for him, no event can change the course of things: nothing deserves to occupy our memories to this point: there is no history!
- Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things: or “words,” i.e., everything mentioned in verses 4-7.
