Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

Evangelical Heritage Version

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¹² I, Ecclesiastes, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ I applied my heart to seek out and explore with wisdom everything done under the sky.^[a] (What a burdensome task^[b] God has given the children of Adam to keep them busy!) ¹⁴ I have seen all the actions done under the sun, and, look, it is all nothing but vapor. It is all chasing the wind. ¹⁵ Whatever is crooked cannot be straightened. Whatever is not there cannot be counted.

¹⁶ I thought in my heart, “Look, I have become great and accumulated more wisdom than anyone ruling over Jerusalem before me. My mind^[c] has absorbed so much wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ I applied my heart to understand wisdom and knowledge, madness and stupidity. I realized that this too is chasing the wind. ¹⁸ In fact, with much wisdom comes much frustration.^[d] The more knowledge, the more pain!