Ecclesiastes 1

Proverbs 31 Ecclesiastes 2

Ecclesiastes 1 Darby Translation (DARBY)

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities! all is vanity.

³What profit hath man of all his labour wherewith he laboureth under the sun?

⁴[One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh, but the earth standeth for ever.

⁵The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth.

⁶The wind goeth towards the south, and turneth about towards the north: it turneth about continually, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.

⁷All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

⁸All things are full of toil; none can express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which will be done: and there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already in the ages which were before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be remembrance of things that are to come with those who shall live afterwards.

¹²I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I applied my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: this grievous occupation hath God given to the children of men to weary themselves therewith.

¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and pursuit of the wind.

¹⁵That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

¹⁶I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have become great and have acquired wisdom more than all they that have been before me over Jerusalem; and my heart hath seen much of wisdom and knowledge.

¹⁷And I applied my heart to the knowledge of wisdom, and to the knowledge of madness and folly: I perceived that this also is a striving after the wind.

¹⁸For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Darby Translation (DARBY)

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Ecclesiastes 1 New International Version (NIV)

Everything Is Meaningless

1 The words of the Teacher,^[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:

²“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”

³What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?
⁴Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.
⁵The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.
⁶The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
⁷All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.
⁸All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
    nor the ear its fill of hearing.
⁹What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
¹¹No one remembers the former generations,
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.

Wisdom Is Meaningless

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

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened;
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; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷Then 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.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.

Footnotes:

Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12

New International Version (NIV)

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