Ecclesiastes 1-4

New American Standard Bible

The Futility of All Endeavors

1 The words of the ^(A)Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²“^(B)Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher,
“Futility of futilities! All is futility.”

³^(C)What advantage does a person have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
⁴A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the ^(D)earth ^[a]remains forever.
⁵Also, ^(E)the sun rises and the sun sets;
And ^[b]hurrying to its place it rises there again.
⁶^[c]^(F)Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues ^[d]swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.
⁷All the rivers ^[e]flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers ^[f]flow,
There they ^[g]flow again.
⁸All things are wearisome;
No one can tell it.
^(G)The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
⁹^(H)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.
¹⁰Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new”?
It has already existed for ages
Which were before us.
¹¹There is ^(I)no remembrance of the ^[h]earlier things,
And of the later things as well, which will occur,
There will be no remembrance of them
Among those who will come later still.

The Futility of Wisdom

¹²I, the ^(J)Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I ^(K)set my ^[i]mind to seek and ^(L)explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a ^[j]^(M)sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled. ¹⁴I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is ^(N)futility and striving after wind. ¹⁵What is ^(O)crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I ^[k]said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased ^(P)wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my ^[l]mind has observed ^[m]a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷And I ^(Q)applied my ^[n]mind to know wisdom and to ^(R)know insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is ^(S)striving after wind. ¹⁸Because ^(T)in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions

2 I said ^[o]to myself, “Come now, I will test you with ^(U)pleasure. So ^[p]enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. ²^(V)I said of laughter, “It is senseless,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?” ³I explored with my ^[q]mind how to ^(W)refresh my body with wine while my ^[r]mind was guiding me wisely; and how to seize ^(X)foolishness, until I could see ^(Y)what good there is for the sons of mankind ^[s]to do under heaven for the few ^[t]years of their lives. ⁴I enlarged my works: I ^(Z)built houses for myself, I planted ^(AA)vineyards for myself; ⁵I made ^(AB)gardens and ^(AC)parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; ⁶I made ^(AD)ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. ⁷I bought male and female slaves, and I had ^[u]^(AE)slaves born at home. I also possessed flocks and ^(AF)herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. ⁸I also amassed for myself silver and ^(AG)gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself ^(AH)male and female singers, and the pleasures of the sons of mankind: many concubines.

⁹Then I became ^(AI)great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. ¹⁰^(AJ)All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my ^(AK)reward for all my labor. ¹¹So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had ^[v]exerted, and behold, all was ^(AL)futility and striving after wind, and there was ^(AM)no benefit under the sun.

Wisdom Surpasses Foolishness

¹²So I turned to ^(AN)consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness; for what will the man do who will come after the king, except ^(AO)what has already been done? ¹³Then I saw that ^(AP)wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness. ¹⁴The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the ^(AQ)fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that ^(AR)one and the same fate happens to ^[w]both of them. ¹⁵Then I said ^[x]to myself, “^(AS)As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. ^(AT)Why then have I been extremely wise?” So ^[y]I said to myself, “This too is futility.” ¹⁶For there is ^(AU)no ^[z]lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will ^[aa]soon be forgotten. And ^(AV)how the wise and the fool alike die! ¹⁷So I ^(AW)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ^[ab]unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

The Futility of Labor

¹⁸So I hated ^(AX)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must ^(AY)leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or ^(AZ)a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is ^(BA)futility. ²⁰Therefore I ^[ac]completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. ²¹When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and ^(BB)skill, and then ^(BC)gives his ^[ad]legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil. ²²For what does a person get in ^(BD)all his labor and in ^[ae]his striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³Because all his days his activity is painful and ^(BE)irritating; even at night his ^[af]mind ^(BF)does not rest. This too is futility.

²⁴There is ^(BG)nothing better for a person than to eat and drink, and show ^[ag]himself some good in his trouble. This too I have seen, that it is ^(BH)from the hand of God. ²⁵For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without ^[ah]Him? ²⁶For to a person who is good in His sight, ^(BI)He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may ^(BJ)give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is ^(BK)futility and striving after wind.

A Time for Everything

3 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a ^(BL)time for every matter under heaven—

²A time to give birth and a ^(BM)time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
³A ^(BN)time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴A time to ^(BO)weep and a time to ^(BP)laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to ^(BQ)dance.
⁵A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
⁶A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to ^(BR)be silent and a time to speak.
⁸A time to love and a time to ^(BS)hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹^(BT)What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰I have seen the ^(BU)task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to ^[ai]occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Mankind

¹¹He has ^(BV)made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind ^(BW)will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that there is ^(BX)nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; ¹³moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the ^(BY)gift of God. ¹⁴I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will ^[aj]^(BZ)fear Him. ¹⁵^(CA)That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God ^[ak]seeks what has passed by.

¹⁶Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is ^(CB)wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. ¹⁷I said ^[al]to myself, “^(CC)God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a ^(CD)time for every matter and for every deed ^[am]is there. ¹⁸I said ^[an]to myself regarding the sons of mankind, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as ^(CE)animals, they to themselves.” ¹⁹^(CF)For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals ^[ao]is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. ²⁰All go to the same place. All came from the ^(CG)dust and all return to the dust. ²¹Who knows that the ^(CH)spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth? ²²I have seen that ^(CI)nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his ^[ap]lot. For who will bring him to see ^(CJ)what will occur after him?

The Evils of Oppression

4 Then I looked again at all the acts of ^(CK)oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had ^(CL)no one to comfort them; and power was on the side of their oppressors, but they had no one to comfort them. ²So ^(CM)I congratulated the dead who are already dead, more than the living who are still living. ³But ^(CN)better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

⁴I have seen that every labor and every ^(CO)skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a person and his neighbor. This too is ^(CP)futility and striving after wind. ⁵The fool ^(CQ)folds his hands and ^(CR)consumes his own flesh. ⁶One hand full of rest is ^(CS)better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

⁷Then I looked again at futility under the sun. ⁸There was a man without a ^[aq]dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, ^(CT)his eyes were not satisfied with riches, and he never asked, “And ^(CU)for whom do I labor and deprive myself of pleasure?” This too is futility, and it is an ^(CV)unhappy task.

⁹Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor; ¹⁰for if ^[ar]either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not ^[as]another to lift him up! ¹¹Furthermore, if two lie down together they ^[at]keep warm, but ^(CW)how can one be warm alone? ¹²And if ^[au]one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

¹³A ^(CX)poor yet wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive ^[av]instruction— ¹⁴for he has come ^(CY)out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom. ¹⁵I have seen all those living under the sun move to the side of the second youth who ^[aw]replaces him. ¹⁶There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them. Even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him; for this too is ^(CZ)futility and striving after wind.