Beginning
1 These are the words of the Teacher. He is a son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 The Teacher says,
“Useless! Useless!
Completely useless!
All things are useless.”
3 What do people really gain
from all the hard work they do here on earth?
Things Never Change
4 People live, and people die.
But the earth continues forever.
5 The sun rises, and the sun sets.
Then it hurries back to the place where it rises again.
6 The wind blows to the south.
Then it blows to the north.
It blows from one direction and then another.
Then it turns around and repeats the same pattern, going nowhere.
7 All the rivers flow to the sea.
But the sea never becomes full.
8 Everything is boring.
It makes you so tired you don’t even want to talk about it.
Words come again and again to our ears.
But we never can hear enough.
Nor can we ever really see all we want to see.
9 All things continue the way they have been since the beginning.
The same things will be done that have always been done.
There is nothing new here on earth.
10 A person might say,
“Look, this is new!”
But really it has always been here.
It was here before we were!
11 People don’t remember what happened long ago.
In the future, people will not remember what happens now.
And later, other people will not remember what was done before them.
Does Wisdom Bring Happiness?
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I decided to use my wisdom. I wanted to learn about everything that happens here on earth. I learned that God has given us terrible things to face here on earth. 14 I looked at everything done here on earth. I saw that it is all a waste of time. It is like chasing the wind.
15 If something is crooked,
you can’t make it straight.
If something is missing,
you can’t say it is there.
16 I said to myself, “I have become very wise. I am now wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.” 17 So I decided to find out how wisdom and knowledge are better than foolish thinking. But I learned that trying to become wise is also like chasing the wind.
18 With much wisdom comes much disappointment.
The person who gains more knowledge also gains more sorrow.
Does “Having Fun” Bring Happiness?
2 I said to myself, “I will try having fun. I will enjoy myself.” But I found that this is also useless. 2 It is foolish to laugh all the time. Having fun gets nothing done. 3 I decided to cheer myself up with wine. At the same time my mind was still thinking wisely. I wanted to find a way to enjoy myself. I wanted to see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.
Does Hard Work Bring Happiness?
4 Then I did great things. I built houses, and I planted vineyards for myself. 5 I planted gardens, and I made parks. I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made pools of water for myself. And I used them to water my growing trees. 7 I bought men and women slaves. Slaves were also born in my house. I had large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. I had more than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered silver and gold for myself. I took treasures from kings and other areas. I had men and women singers. I had all the wives a man could ever want. 9 I became very famous. I was greater than anyone who had lived in Jerusalem before me. My wisdom helped me in all this.
10 Anything I saw and wanted, I got for myself.
I did not miss any pleasure I desired.
I was pleased with everything I did.
And this pleasure was the reward for all my hard work.
11 But then I looked at what I had done.
I thought about all the hard work.
Suddenly I realized it was just a waste of time, like chasing the wind!
There is nothing to gain from anything we do here on earth.
Maybe Wisdom Is the Answer
12 Then I began to think again about being wise.
And I thought also about being foolish and doing crazy things.
But after all, what more can any king do?
He can only do what some other king has already done.
13 I saw that being wise is certainly better than being foolish,
just as light is better than darkness.
14 A wise man sees where he is going.
But a foolish person is like someone walking around in the dark.
Yet I saw that
both the foolish person and the wise man end the same way.
15 I thought to myself,
“What happens to a foolish person will happen to me, too.
So what do I get for being so wise?”
I said to myself,
“Being wise is also useless.”
16 The wise man and the foolish person
will both die!
People will not remember either one forever.
In the future, both will be forgotten.
Is There Real Happiness in Life?
17 So I hated life. It made me sad to think that everything here on earth is useless. It is like chasing the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had worked for here on earth. I hated them because I must leave them to someone who will live after me. 19 Someone else will control everything for which I worked so hard here on earth. And I don’t know if he will be wise or foolish. This is also useless. 20 So I became sad about all the hard work I had done here on earth. 21 A person can work hard using all his wisdom, knowledge and skill. But he will die, and other people will get the things he worked for. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. This is also unfair and useless. 22 What does a person get for all his work and struggling here on earth? 23 All his life his work is full of pain and sorrow. Even at night his mind doesn’t rest. This is also useless.
24 The best a person can do is eat, drink and enjoy his work. I saw that even this comes from God. 25 No one can eat or enjoy life without God. 26 If a person pleases God, God will give him wisdom, knowledge and joy. But the sinner will get only the work of gathering and storing wealth. Then he will have to give it to the one who pleases God. So all his work is useless. It is like chasing the wind.
There Is a Time for Everything
3 There is a right time for everything.
Everything on earth has its special season.
2 There is a time to be born
and a time to die.
There is a time to plant
and a time to pull up plants.
3 There is a time to kill
and a time to heal.
There is a time to destroy
and a time to build.
4 There is a time to cry
and a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad
and a time to dance.
5 There is a time to throw away stones
and a time to gather them.
There is a time to hug
and a time not to hug.
6 There is a time to look for something
and a time to stop looking for it.
There is a time to keep things
and a time to throw things away.
7 There is a time to tear apart
and a time to sew together.
There is a time to be silent
and a time to speak.
8 There is a time to love
and a time to hate.
There is a time for war
and a time for peace.
God Controls His World
9 Does a person really gain anything from his work? 10 I saw the hard work God has given us to do. 11 God has also given us a desire to know the future. God certainly does everything at just the right time. But we can never completely understand what he is doing. 12 So I realize that the best thing for people is to be happy. They should enjoy themselves as long as they live. 13 God wants everyone to eat and drink and be happy in his work. These are gifts from God. 14 I know anything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to what God has done. And they cannot take anything away from it. God does it this way to cause people to honor him.
15 What happens now has also happened in the past.
Things that will happen in the future have also happened before.
God makes the same things happen again and again.
God Allows Unfairness
16 I also saw this here on earth:
Where there should have been justice, there was evil.
Where there should have been fairness, there was wickedness.
17 I certainly believe that
God has planned a time for every thing and every action.
He will judge both good people and bad people.
18 But I decided that God leaves it the way it is to test people. He wants to show them they are just like animals. 19 The same thing happens to animals and to people. They both have the same breath. So they both die. People are no better off than the animals. The lives of both are soon gone. 20 Both end up the same way. Both came from dust. And both will go back to dust. 21 Who can be sure that the spirit of man goes up to God? Or who can be sure that the spirit of an animal goes down into the ground? 22 So I saw the best thing a person can do is to enjoy his work. That is all he has. No one can help a person see what will happen in the future.
Is It Better to Be Dead?
4 Again I saw all the people who were treated badly here on earth.
I saw their tears.
I saw that they had no one to comfort them.
Cruel people had all the power.
There was no one to comfort the people they hurt.
2 I decided that the dead
are better off than the living.
3 But those who have never been born
are better off still.
They have not seen the evil
that is done here on earth.
Why Work So Hard?
4 I realized the reason people work hard and try to succeed: They are jealous of each other. This, too, is useless. It is like chasing the wind.
5 Some say that it is foolish to fold your hands and do nothing.
You will starve to death!
6 Maybe so, but I say it is better to be content
with what little you have.
Otherwise, you will always be struggling for more.
That is like chasing the wind.
7 Again I saw something here on earth that was senseless:
8 I saw a person who had no family.
He had no son or brother.
He always worked hard.
But he was never satisfied with what he had.
He never asked himself, “For whom am I working so hard?
Why don’t I let myself enjoy life?”
This also is very sad and senseless.
Friends and Family Give Strength
9 Two people are better than one.
They get more done by working together.
10 If one person falls,
the other can help him up.
But it is bad for the person who is alone when he falls.
No one is there to help him.
11 If two lie down together, they will be warm.
But a person alone will not be warm.
12 An enemy might defeat one person,
but two people together can defend themselves.
A rope that has three parts wrapped together
is hard to break.
Fame and Power Are Useless
13 A young person may be poor but wise. He is better than a foolish, old king who doesn’t listen to advice. 14 I saw such a young person become king. He had been born poor in the kingdom. He had even gone to prison before becoming king. 15 I watched some of the people who live on earth follow him. They made him their king. 16 Yes, a great many people followed him at first. But later, they did not like him, either. So fame and power are shown to be useless. They are like chasing the wind.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.