Loading…

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7

A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but gthe earth remains forever.

hThe sun rises, and the sun goes down,

and hastens3 to the place where it rises.

iThe wind blows to the south

and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

All jstreams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

Read more Explain verse



Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — The New International Version (NIV)

Generations come and generations go,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises and the sun sets,

and hurries back to where it rises.

The wind blows to the south

and turns to the north;

round and round it goes,

ever returning on its course.

All streams flow into the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

To the place the streams come from,

there they return again.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. 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. 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.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

One generation passes away, and another generation comes;

But the earth abides forever.

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,

And hastens to the place where it arose.

The wind goes toward the south,

And turns around to the north;

The wind whirls about continually,

And comes again on its circuit.

All the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full;

To the place from which the rivers come,

There they return again.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — New Century Version (NCV)

People live, and people die,

but the earth continues forever.

The sun rises, the sun sets,

and then it hurries back to where it rises again.

The wind blows to the south;

it blows to the north.

It blows from one direction and then another.

Then it turns around and repeats the same pattern, going nowhere.

All the rivers flow to the sea,

but the sea never becomes full.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — American Standard Version (ASV)

One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth standeth for ever. The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth. The wind goeth towards the south, and turneth about towards the north: it turneth about continually, and the wind returneth again to its circuits. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Generations come, and generations go, 

but the earth lasts forever. 

The sun rises, and the sun sets, 

and then it rushes back to the place where it will rise ⸤again⸥. 

The wind blows toward the south and shifts toward the north. 

Round and round it blows. It blows in a full circle. 

All streams flow into the sea, but the sea is never full. 

The water goes back to the place where the streams began 

in order to ⸤start⸥ flowing again. 

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

A generation goes and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises and the sun sets;

panting, it returns to its place

where it rises.

Gusting to the south,

turning to the north,

turning, turning, goes the wind,

and the wind returns in its cycles.

All the streams flow to the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

The streams are flowing to the place,

and they flow there again.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises and the sun goes down,

and hurries to the place where it rises.

The wind blows to the south,

and goes around to the north;

round and round goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they continue to flow.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth stands forever.

The sun rises, and the sun goes down;

to its place it hurries, and there it rises again.

The wind goes to the south and goes around to the north;

around and around it goes, and on its circuit the wind returns.

All the streams flow to the sea,

but the sea is never full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they continue to flow.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

People come and people go.

But the earth remains forever.

The sun rises. Then it sets.

And then it hurries back to where it rises.

The wind blows to the south.

Then it turns to the north.

Around and around it goes.

It always returns to where it started.

Every stream flows into the ocean.

But the ocean never gets full.

The streams return

to the place they came from.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

A generation goes and a generation comes,

But the earth remains forever.

Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;

And hastening to its place it rises there again.

Blowing toward the south,

Then turning toward the north,

The wind continues swirling along;

And on its circular courses the wind returns.

All the rivers flow into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full.

To the place where the rivers flow,

There they flow again.


A service of Logos Bible Software