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Ecclesiastes 1:1-3
Easy-to-Read Version
Ecclesiastes 1:1-3
Easy-to-Read Version
1 These are the words from the Teacher, a son of David and king of Jerusalem.
2 Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher says that it is all a waste of time![a] 3 Do people really gain anything from all the hard work they do in this life[b]?
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 meaningless … a waste of time The Hebrew word means “vapor or breath” or “something that is useless, meaningless, empty, wrong, or a waste of time.”
- Ecclesiastes 1:3 in this life Literally, “under the sun.” Also in verses 9, 13.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-3
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 1:1-3
New International Version
Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher,[a](A) son of David, king in Jerusalem:(B)
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”(C)
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?(D)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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