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Kohelet 1
Orthodox Jewish Bible
Kohelet 1
Orthodox Jewish Bible
1 Divrei Kohelet, Ben Dovid, Melech in Yerushalayim.
2 Hevel havalim, saith Kohelet, hevel havalim; all is hevel.
3 What profit hath a man from all his amal (toil) which he hath toiled under the shemesh?
4 Dor v’dor, generations come and go, passing away; but ha’aretz remaineth l’olam.
5 The shemesh also ariseth, and the shemesh goeth down, and hasteth to its place, there to arise again.
6 The ruach (wind) goeth toward the darom (south), and turneth about unto the tzafon (north); it whirleth about continually, and the ruach returneth again according to its circuits.
7 All the neharot (rivers) run into the yam; yet the yam is not full; unto the place from whence the neharot come, thither they return to go again.
8 All things are wearisome; no ish can express it; the ayin is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ozen full with hearing.
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing chadash under the shemesh.
10 Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is chadash? L’olamim (ages ago), which were before us, it hath been already.
11 There is no zichron (remembrance) of former things; neither shall there be with those who come after any zikaron (recollection) of things that are to come.
12 I, Kohelet, was Melech over Yisroel in Yerushalayim.
13 And I set my lev to seek and search out by chochmah concerning all things that are done under Shomayim; what grievous task hath Elohim given to the bnei haAdam to be afflicted therewith.
14 I have seen all the ma’asim that are done under the shemesh; and, hinei, all is hevel and chasing after ruach (wind).
15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and chesron (that which is lacking) cannot be numbered.
16 I communed with mine own lev, saying, Hinei, I am come to greatness, even greater chochmah than all they that have been before me over Yerushalayim; yea, my lev had great experience of chochmah and da’as.
17 And I applied my lev to have da’as of chochmah, and to have da’as of holelot (madness) and sichlut (folly); I perceived that this also is striving after ruach (wind).
18 For in much chochmah (wisdom) is much ka’as (grief, vexation); and he that increaseth da’as increaseth mach’ov (sorrow).
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
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