Font Size
Ecclesiastes 1:15-17
Contemporary English Version
Ecclesiastes 1:15-17
Contemporary English Version
15 If something is crooked,
it can't be made straight;
if something isn't there,
it can't be counted.
16 (A) I said to myself, “You are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in Jerusalem. You are eager to learn, and you have learned a lot.” 17 Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind.[a]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1.17 chasing the wind: See the note at 1.14.
Ecclesiastes 1:15-17
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 1:15-17
New International Version
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;(A)
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;(B) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,(C) and also of madness and folly,(D) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.