Ecclesiastes 1:9-14
English Standard Version
9 (A)What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been (B)already
in the ages before us.
11 There is no (C)remembrance of former things,[a]
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things[b] yet to be
among those who come after.
The Vanity of Wisdom
12 I (D)the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I (E)applied my heart[c] to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy (F)business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is (G)vanity[d] and a striving after wind.[e]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:11 Or former people
- Ecclesiastes 1:11 Or later people
- Ecclesiastes 1:13 The Hebrew term denotes the center of one's inner life, including mind, will, and emotions
- Ecclesiastes 1:14 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 1:14 Or a feeding on wind; compare Hosea 12:1 (also in Ecclesiastes 1:17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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