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Ecclesiastes 1
English Standard Version
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?
4 A 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.
7 All (L)streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All 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.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been (O)already
in the ages before us.
11 There 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
12 I (Q)the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And 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. 14 I 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.
16 I 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.” 17 And 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.
18 For (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
EasyEnglish Bible
Ecclesiastes 1
EasyEnglish Bible
Nothing has a purpose
1 These are the words of the Teacher, David's son, who ruled as king in Jerusalem.[a]
2 The Teacher says, ‘Nothing has a purpose.
Nothing that ever happens has a purpose.’
3 People work very hard while they live on the earth.
But in the end, what do they receive in return for their work?
4 Old people die and then their children live after them.
But the earth continues and it never changes.
5 The sun rises in the morning and it disappears in the evening.
Then it quickly moves to rise again the next morning.
6 The wind blows to the south. Then it turns to the north.
It blows in every direction. Then it starts again.
7 All rivers pour water into the sea, but the sea does not become full.
The water returns to the rivers and it all happens again.
8 Everything continues in the same way.
There is nothing important to talk about.
Nothing that we see is enough to make us happy.
There are always more things that we want to hear.
9 Things that are happening now will continue to happen in the future.
What people have done before, other people will do again.
There is nothing truly new anywhere on the earth.
10 People may say, ‘Look! Here is something new!’
But really it happened long ago, before we were born.
11 People do not remember things that happened in the past.
In the future, people will not remember what has happened either.
Wisdom has no purpose
12 I, the Teacher, ruled Israel as king in Jerusalem. 13 I decided to study everything that happens on the earth. I used wisdom to try to understand these things. I realized that God has given people hard work to do, which causes them to suffer. 14 I thought about all the things that people do on the earth. I realized that all these things have no purpose. It is like somebody who tries to catch the wind.
15 If someone has bent something,
you cannot always make it straight again.
You cannot count things,
if they are not there.[b]
16 I said to myself, ‘Listen! I have become very wise! I am much wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I know a lot more things than they ever did!’ 17 So I decided to study how much wisdom and knowledge really help a person. I wanted to learn if it was better than someone who only does foolish things. But this was also useless, like somebody who tries to catch the wind.
18 The more wisdom you have,
the more you will worry.
The more you learn,
the more you suffer.[c]
Footnotes
- 1:1 Jerusalem was the capital city of Israel.
- 1:15 These were probably proverbs. There are things that you cannot change. There are things that you cannot even describe.
- 1:18 These were probably also proverbs. The more wisdom and knowledge that a person has, the more that person will understand that life has problems.
Ecclesiastes 1
New International Version
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)
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?(D)
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.(E)
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.(F)
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.(G)
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,(H)
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;(I)
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No 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
12 I, the Teacher,(L) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.(M) 13 I 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) 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(P)
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;(Q)
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I 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.” 17 Then 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.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12
English Standard Version (ESV) 
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EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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