Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
1599 Geneva Bible
12 ¶ [a]I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem:
13 And I have given mine heart to search and find out wisdom by all things that are done under the heaven: (this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men, [b]to humble them thereby.)
14 I have considered all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, and vexation of the spirit.
15 That which is [c]crooked, can none make straight: and that which faileth, cannot be numbered.
16 I thought in mine heart, and said, Behold, I am become great, and excel in wisdom all them that have been before me in Jerusalem: and mine heart hath seen much wisdom and knowledge.
17 And I gave mine heart to know wisdom and knowledge, [d]madness and foolishness: I knew also that this is a vexation of the spirit.
18 For in the multitude of wisdom is much [e]grief: and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:12 He proveth that if any could have attained to felicity in this world by labor, and study, he chiefly should have obtained it, because he had gifts and aids of God thereunto above all others.
- Ecclesiastes 1:13 Man of nature hath a desire to know, and yet is not able to come to the perfection of knowledge, which is the punishment of sin, to humble man, and to teach him to depend only upon God.
- Ecclesiastes 1:15 Man is not able by all his diligence to cause things to go otherwise than they do: neither can he number the faults that are committed, much less remedy them.
- Ecclesiastes 1:17 That is, vain things, which served unto pleasure, wherein was no commodity, but grief and trouble of conscience.
- Ecclesiastes 1:18 Wisdom and knowledge cannot be come by without great pain of body and mind: for when a man hath attained to the highest, yet is his mind never fully content: therefore in this world is no true felicity.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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