Ecclesiastes 1

Verses: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Text

Hebrew

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11	לָהֶם֙
12
13	בּֽוֹ
14
15
16
17
18

ESV

1	The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2	Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3	What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
4	A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
5	The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
6	The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.
7	All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
8	All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9	What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
10	Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.
11	There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
12	I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13	And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
14	I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
15	What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16	I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”
17	And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
18	For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

NIV

1	The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2	“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
3	What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
4	Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5	The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
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.
8	All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9	What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; 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	There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.
12	I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13	I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!
14	I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15	What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
16	I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
17	Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18	For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

NLT

1	These are the words of the Teacher, King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem.
2	“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
3	What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
4	Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
5	The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
6	The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.
7	Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.
8	Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
9	History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
10	Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.
11	We don't remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
12	I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem.
13	I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.
14	I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless– like chasing the wind.
15	What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.
16	I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”
17	So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
18	The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

LXX

1	Ἐκκλησιαστοῦ Δαυιδ Ιερουσαλημ
2	εἶπεν Ἐκκλησιαστής
3	μοχθεῖ
4
5	ἀνατέλλει δύνει ἕλκει
6	ἀνατέλλων βορρᾶν κυκλῶν κύκλους
7	χείμαρροι ἐμπιμπλαμένη χείμαρροι
8	ἔγκοποι ἐμπλησθήσεται ἀκροάσεως
9	γεγονός γενησόμενον
10	ἐρεῖ γέγονεν γενομένοις
11	γενομένοις γενησομένων
12	Ἐκκλησιαστὴς ἐγενόμην Ιερουσαλημ
13	κατασκέψασθαι γινομένων περισπασμὸν
14	προαίρεσις
15	ἐπικοσμηθῆναι
16	ἐγένοντο Ιερουσαλημ
17	γνῶναι ἐπιστήμην ἔγνων προαίρεσις
18	ἄλγημα

KJV

1	The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2	Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3	What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4	One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
5	The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6	The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7	All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
8	All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled 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 no new thing under the sun.
10	Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
11	There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
12	I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13	And 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.
14	I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
15	That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
16	I 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.
17	And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
18	For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Deuteronomy 34 ← Ecclesiastes 1 → Ecclesiastes 2

Return to: Home Page → Christianity → Bible → Old Testament → Ecclesiastes