1:4 A generation comes and a generation goes,
but the earth remains the same through the ages.
1:5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
it hurries away to a place from which it rises again.
1:6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north;
round and round the wind goes and on its rounds it returns.
1:7 All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full,
and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again.
1:8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it:
The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.
1:9 What exists now is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing truly new on earth.
1:10 Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”?
It was already done long ago, before our time.
1:11 No one remembers the former events,
nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen;
they will not be remembered by the future generations.