Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Limitations of Wisdom
12 I, the Teacher,(A) have been[a] king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to seek(B) and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven.(C) God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.(D) 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.[b](E)
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;(F)
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself,[c] “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me,(G) and my mind has thoroughly grasped[d] wisdom and knowledge.” 17 I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge,(H) madness and folly;(I) I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.[e](J)
18 For with much wisdom is much sorrow;(K)
as knowledge increases, grief increases.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:12 Or Teacher, was
- Ecclesiastes 1:14 Or a feeding on wind, or an affliction of spirit
- Ecclesiastes 1:16 Lit said with my heart
- Ecclesiastes 1:16 Or discerned
- Ecclesiastes 1:17 Or a feeding on wind, or an affliction of spirit
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
