Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

English Standard Version

The Vanity of Wisdom

¹²I ^(A)the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I ^(B)applied my heart^[a] to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy ^(C)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 ^(D)vanity^[b] and a striving after wind.^[c]

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

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

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

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Footnotes

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 2:12-17

English Standard Version

The Vanity of Living Wisely

¹²^(A)So I turned to consider ^(B)wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only ^(C)what has already been done. ¹³Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. ¹⁴^(D)The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the ^(E)same event happens to all of them. ¹⁵Then I said in my heart, ^(F)“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. ¹⁶For of the wise as of the fool there is ^(G)no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. ^(H)How the wise dies just like the fool! ¹⁷So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for ^(I)all is vanity and a striving after wind.