Ecclesiastes 1
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."
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.
Wisdom Is Meaningless
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.