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Ecclesiastes 1
Complete Jewish Bible
Ecclesiastes 1
Complete Jewish Bible
1 The words of Kohelet the son of David, king in Yerushalayim:
2 Pointless! Pointless! — says Kohelet —
Utterly meaningless! Nothing matters!
3 What does a person gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come, generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, the sun sets;
then it speeds to its place and rises there.
6 The wind blows south,
then it turns north;
the wind blows all around
and keeps returning to its rounds.
7 All the rivers flow to the sea,
yet the sea is not full;
to the place where the rivers flow,
there they keep on flowing.
8 Everything is wearisome,
more than one can express;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
the ear not filled up with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new
under the sun.
10 Is there something of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It existed already in the ages before us.
11 No one remembers the people of long ago;
and those to come will not be remembered
by those who come after them.
12 I, Kohelet, have been king over Isra’el in Yerushalayim. 13 I wisely applied myself to seek out and investigate everything done under heaven. What a bothersome task God has given humanity to keep us occupied! 14 I have seen all the activities that are done under the sun, and it’s all pointless, feeding on wind.
15 What is crooked can’t be straightened;
what is not there can’t be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have acquired much wisdom, more than anyone ruling Yerushalayim before me.” Yes, I experienced a great deal of wisdom and knowledge; 17 yet when I applied myself to understanding wisdom and knowledge, as well as stupidity and folly, I came to see that this too was merely feeding on wind.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief;
the more knowledge, the more suffering.
Ecclesiastes 1
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 1
New International Version
Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher,[a](A) son of David, king in Jerusalem:(B)
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”(C)
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?(D)
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.(E)
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.(F)
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.(G)
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,(H)
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;(I)
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 No one remembers the former generations,(J)
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.(K)
Wisdom Is Meaningless
12 I, the Teacher,(L) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.(M) 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.(N) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!(O) 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(P)
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;(Q)
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;(R) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,(S) and also of madness and folly,(T) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12
Ecclesiastes 1
King James Version
Ecclesiastes 1
King James Version
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.
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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