What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Parallel translations
- WEB That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
- KJV The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
- NKJV That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.
- NASB What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.
- NLT History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
What has been will be again; there is nothing new under the sun. History repeats itself, offering no genuinely fresh remedy to life's emptiness.
Overview
The Preacher declares the sameness of human experience across time, dampening hopes that novelty can satisfy. 'Under the sun' marks this as a view of life confined to the fallen earthly order. Strikingly, the truly new thing comes not from under the sun but from heaven, in Christ who makes all things new (Revelation 21:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Eccl 3:15What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.
- Eccl 6:10Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.
- Rev 21:1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
- Eccl 2:12Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?
- Eccl 7:10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.
- Jer 31:22How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”
- Isa 43:19Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
- Rev 21:5And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”
- 2 Pet 2:1Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 1:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.