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All Toil is Profitless and Repetitious

What does a person gain in all his toil
    with which he toils under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
    but the earth stands forever.
The sun rises, and the sun goes down;
    to its place it hurries,[a] and there it rises again.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 1:5 The MT reads “it gasps for breath,” which is supported by LXX “to draw breath”; the BHS editors suggest “it returns again”

What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?(A)
Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.(B)
The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.(C)

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