Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

New International Version

Wisdom Is Meaningless

¹²I, the Teacher,^(A) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.^(B) ¹³I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.^(C) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!^(D) ¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(E)

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened;^(F)
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;^(G) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(H) and also of madness and folly,^(I) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;^(J)
the more knowledge, the more grief.^(K)

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Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

New King James Version

The Grief of Wisdom

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

¹⁵^(C)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 ^(D)more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has ^[b]understood great wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷^(E)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 ^(F)in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

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