These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.
“Everything is meaningless,” sys the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises, and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, then turns north. Around nd around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. The water returns again to the rivers ad flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
History merely repeats itself. It has been all done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one wil remember what we are doing now. (vv. 1-11, NLT)