Ecclesiastes 1

King James Version

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

³What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

⁴One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

⁵The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

⁶The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

⁷All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

⁸All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

¹⁰Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

¹²I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

¹⁵That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

¹⁶I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

¹⁷And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

¹⁸For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

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

Ecclesiastes 1

Good News Translation

Life Is Useless

1 These are the words of the Philosopher, David's son, who was king in Jerusalem.

²It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless. ³You spend your life working, laboring, and what do you have to show for it? ⁴^(A)Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same. ⁵The sun still rises, and it still goes down, going wearily back to where it must start all over again. ⁶The wind blows south, the wind blows north—round and round and back again. ⁷Every river flows into the sea, but the sea is not yet full. The water returns to where the rivers began, and starts all over again. ⁸Everything leads to weariness—a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough. ⁹What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world. ¹⁰“Look,” they say, “here is something new!” But no, it has all happened before, long before we were born. ¹¹No one remembers what has happened in the past, and no one in days to come will remember what happens between now and then.

The Philosopher's Experience

¹²I, the Philosopher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³I determined that I would examine and study all the things that are done in this world.

God has laid a miserable fate upon us. ¹⁴I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind. ¹⁵You can't straighten out what is crooked; you can't count things that aren't there.

¹⁶^(B)I told myself, “I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.” ¹⁷I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness, wisdom and madness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind. ¹⁸The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts.

Ecclesiastes 1

New King James Version

The Vanity of Life

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

²“Vanity^(B)^[a] of vanities,” says the Preacher;
“Vanity of vanities, ^(C)all is vanity.”

³^(D)What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he ^[b]toils under the sun?
⁴One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
^(E)But the earth abides forever.
⁵^(F)The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And ^[c]hastens to the place where it arose.
⁶^(G)The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.
⁷^(H)All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.
⁸All things are ^[d]full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
^(I)The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹^(J)That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰Is there anything of which it may be said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
¹¹There is ^(K)no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.

The Grief of Wisdom

¹²I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I set my heart to seek and ^(L)search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; ^(M)this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be ^[e]exercised. ¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁵^(N)What is crooked cannot be made straight,
And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

¹⁶I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained ^(O)more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has ^[f]understood great wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷^(P)And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.

¹⁸For ^(Q)in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 1:2 Or Absurdity, Frustration, Futility, Nonsense; and so throughout the book
Ecclesiastes 1:3 labors
Ecclesiastes 1:5 Is eager for, lit. panting
Ecclesiastes 1:8 wearisome
Ecclesiastes 1:13 Or afflicted
Ecclesiastes 1:16 Lit. seen

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

New International Version (NIV)

Ecclesiastes 1

King James Version