Ecclesiastes 1:1-3

Easy-to-Read Version

1 These are the words from the Teacher, a son of David and king of Jerusalem.

²Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher says that it is all a waste of time!^[a] ³Do people really gain anything from all the hard work they do in this life^[b]?

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Footnotes

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.