Еклисиаст 1

Библия, синодално издание

1 ^(A)Думи на Еклисиаста, син Давидов, цар иерусалимски.

²^(B)Суета на суетите, каза Еклисиаст, суета на суетите – всичко е суета!

³^(C)Каква полза за човека от всичките му трудове, с които се труди под слънцето?

⁴Род прехожда, и род дохожда, а земята пребъдва довека.

⁵Слънце изгрява, и слънце залязва и бърза към мястото си, дето изгрява.

⁶Вятър вее към юг и отива към север, върти се, върти се в своя път и пак почва своите кръгообращения.

⁷^(D)Всички реки текат в морето, но морето се не препълня: те отново се връщат към онова място, отдето реки текат, за да текат пак.

⁸^(E)За всяка работа се иска труд; човек не може всичко да изкаже; око се не насища от гледане, ухо се не напълня от слушане.

⁹Каквото е било, пак ще бъде, и каквото се е правило, пак ще се прави – няма нищо ново под слънцето.

¹⁰Случва се да казват за нещо: „виж, на, това е ново“; но то е било вече през вековете, що са били преди нас.

¹¹Няма спомен за миналото; па и за това, що има да стане, няма да остане спомен у ония, които бъдат отпосле.

¹²Аз, Еклисиаст, бях цар над Израиля в Иерусалим;

¹³и насочих сърцето си да издирвам и изпитвам чрез мъдрост всичко, що става под небето; това тежко занятие даде Бог на синовете човешки, за да се упражняват с него.

¹⁴Видях всички работи, които се вършат под слънцето, и ето – всичко е суета и гонене на вятър.

¹⁵Кривото не може да стане право, и това, що го няма, не може да се брои.

¹⁶^(F)Думах в сърце си тъй: ето, аз се въздигнах и придобих мъдрост повече от всички, които бяха преди мене над Иерусалим, и сърцето ми видя много мъдрост и знание.

¹⁷^(G)И насочих сърцето си да познае мъдрост, да познае безумие и глупост; но узнах, че и това е гонене на вятър;

¹⁸защото, голяма мъдрост – голямо страдание, и който трупа познание, трупа тъга.

Ecclesiastes 1

English Standard Version

All Is Vanity

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

²^(C)Vanity^[b] of vanities, says ^(D)the Preacher,
    ^(E)vanity of vanities! ^(F)All is vanity.
³^(G)What ^(H)does man gain by all the toil
    at which he toils under the sun?
⁴A generation goes, and a generation comes,
    but ^(I)the earth remains forever.
⁵^(J)The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
    and hastens^[c] to the place where it rises.
⁶^(K)The wind blows to the south
    and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
    and on its circuits the wind returns.
⁷All ^(L)streams run to the sea,
    but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
    there they flow again.
⁸All things are full of weariness;
    a man cannot utter it;
^(M)the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
    nor the ear filled with hearing.
⁹^(N)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.
¹⁰Is there a thing of which it is said,
    “See, this is new”?
It has been ^(O)already
    in the ages before us.
¹¹There is no ^(P)remembrance of former things,^[d]
    nor will there be any remembrance
of later things^[e] yet to be
    among those who come after.

The Vanity of Wisdom

¹²I ^(Q)the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I ^(R)applied my heart^[f] to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy ^(S)business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹⁴I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is ^(T)vanity^[g] and a striving after wind.^[h]

¹⁵^(U)What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said in my heart, “I have acquired great ^(V)wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷And I ^(W)applied my heart to know wisdom and to know ^(X)madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but ^(Y)a striving after wind.

¹⁸For ^(Z)in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or Convener, or Collector; Hebrew Qoheleth (so throughout Ecclesiastes)
Ecclesiastes 1:2 The Hebrew term hebel, translated vanity or vain, refers concretely to a “mist,” “vapor,” or “mere breath,” and metaphorically to something that is fleeting or elusive (with different nuances depending on the context). It appears five times in this verse and in 29 other verses in Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 1:5 Or and returns panting
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)

Ecclesiastes 1

The Voice

1 These are the words of the teacher,^[a] the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²Teacher: Life is fleeting, like a passing mist.
        It is like trying to catch hold of a breath;
    All vanishes like a vapor; everything is a great vanity.
³    What good does it do anyone to work so hard again and again,
        sun up to sundown? All his labor to gain but a little?
⁴    One generation comes, another goes;
        but the earth continues to remain.
⁵    The sun rises and the sun sets,
        laboring to come up quickly to its place again and again.
⁶    The wind in its travels blows toward the south,
        then swings back around to the north.
    Back and forth,
        returning in its circuit again and again.
⁷    All rivers flow to the sea,
        but the sea is never full.
    To the place where the rivers flow,
        there the water returns to flow once again.
⁸    Words, words, words! So many words! They are wearisome things;
        and yet people cannot refrain from speaking.
    No eye has ever surveyed the world and said, “I have seen enough”;
        no ear has ever listened to creation and said, “I have heard enough.”
⁹    What has been, that will be;
        what has been done, that will be done.
    Nothing is new under the sun;
        the future only repeats the past.
¹⁰    One person may say of some idea,
        “Pay attention to this; it’s original!”
    But that same idea has already been expressed;
        it’s been with us through the ages.
¹¹    We do not remember those people and events of long ago,
        as future generations will not remember what is yet to come.

¹²I, the teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³I decided to seek out and study the wisdom of the ages, of all that had been done under the heavens. I soon discovered the harsh realities of the work God has given us that keeps us so busy. ¹⁴I have witnessed all that is done under the sun, and indeed, all is fleeting, like trying to embrace the wind. ¹⁵There is an old saying:

Something crooked cannot be made straight,
and something missing cannot be counted.

¹⁶I mused over it all and thought to myself, “I have done great things, and I have gained more wisdom than anyone who reigned over Jerusalem before me. I have contemplated great wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷I decided to study wisdom and instead acquainted myself with madness and folly. It, too, seemed like trying to pursue the wind, ¹⁸for as my wisdom increased, so did my vexation. As my knowledge grew, so did my pain.

Footnotes

1:1 Hebrew, Qoheleth, one who gathers

Ecclesiastes 1

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)

³What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?^(D)
⁴Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.^(E)
⁵The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.^(F)
⁶The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
⁷All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.^(G)
⁸All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,^(H)
    nor the ear its fill of hearing.
⁹What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;^(I)
    there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
¹¹No one remembers the former generations,^(J)
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.^(K)

Wisdom Is Meaningless

¹²I, the Teacher,^(L) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.^(M) ¹³I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.^(N) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!^(O) ¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(P)

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened;^(Q)
what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;^(R) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(S) and also of madness and folly,^(T) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;^(U)
the more knowledge, the more grief.^(V)

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12

Библия, синодално издание (BOB)

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Voice (VOICE)

New International Version (NIV)

Еклисиаст 1

Библия, синодално издание

Cross references