Ecclesiastes 1
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Israel in Jerusalem.
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.
3 What advantage [is there] to a man in all his labour that he takes under the sun?
What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes: but the earth stands for ever.
One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.
5 And the sun arises, and the sun goes down and draws towards its place;
The sun comes up and the sun goes down, and goes quickly back to the place where he came up.
6 arising there it proceeds southward, and goes round towards the north. The wind goes round and round, and the wind returns to its circuits.
The wind goes to the south, turning back again to the north; circling round for ever.
7 All the rivers run into the sea; and yet the sea is not filled: to the place whence the rivers come, there they return again.
All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, there they go again.
8 All things are full of labour; a man will not be able to speak [of them]: neither shall the eye be satisfied with seeing, neither shall the ear be filled with hearing.
All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.
9 What is that which has been? the very thing which shall be: and what is that which has been done? the very thing which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 [Who is he] that shall speak and say, Behold, this is new? it has already been in the ages that have passed before us.
Is there anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was before us.
11 There is no memorial to the first things; neither to the things that have been last shall their memorial be with them that shall at the last [time].
There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.
12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I applied my heart to seek out and examine by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven, for God has given to the sons of men an evil trouble to be troubled therewith.
And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.
14 I saw all the works that were wrought under the sun; and, saw, all were vanity and waywardness of spirit.
I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.
15 That which is crooked can’t be made straight: and deficiency can’t be numbered.
That which is bent may not be made straight, and that which is not there may not be numbered.
16 I spoke in my heart, saying, Behold, I am increased, and have acquired wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem: also I applied my heart to know wisdom and knowledge.
I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem — yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.
17 And my heart knew much—wisdom, and knowledge, parables and understanding: I perceived that this also is waywardness of spirit.
And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.
18 For in the abundance of wisdom is abundance of knowledge; and he that increases knowledge will increase sorrow.
Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.
