Ecclesiastes 1

All Is Vanity

1The words of ^athe Preacher,¹ the son of David, ^bking in Jerusalem.

^2cVanity² of vanities, says ^athe Preacher,

^cvanity of vanities! ^dAll is vanity.

^3eWhat ^fdoes man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

⁴A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but ^gthe earth remains forever.

^5hThe sun rises, and the sun goes down,

and hastens³ to the place where it rises.

⁶ⁱThe wind blows to the south

and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

⁷All ^jstreams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

⁸All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

^kthe eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

^9lWhat has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has been ^malready

in the ages before us.

¹¹There is no ⁿremembrance of former things,⁴

nor will there be any remembrance

of later things⁵ yet to be

among those who come after.

The Vanity of Wisdom

¹²I ^othe Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I ^papplied my heart⁶ to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy ^qbusiness that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹⁴I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is ^rvanity⁷ and a striving after wind.⁸

^15sWhat is crooked cannot be made straight,

and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said in my heart, “I have acquired great ^twisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷And I ^uapplied my heart to know wisdom and to know ^vmadness and folly. I perceived that this also is but ^ra striving after wind.

¹⁸For ^win much wisdom is much vexation,

and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.