Ecclesiastes 1–12

CHAPTER 1

All Is Vanity

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

²“^1aVanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

“²Vanity of vanities! All is ³vanity.”

^3aWhat advantage does man have in all his labor

In which he labors under the sun?

⁴A generation goes and a generation comes,

But the ^aearth stands forever.

⁵Also, ^athe sun rises and the sun sets;

And ¹hastening to its place it rises there again.

^6aGoing toward the south,

Then ¹circling toward the north,

The wind goes ²circling along;

And on its circular courses the wind returns.

⁷All the rivers go into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full.

To the place where the rivers go,

There they ¹continually go.

⁸All things are wearisome;

Man is not able to speak of it.

^aThe eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

^9aThat which has been is that which will be,

And that which has been done is that which will be done.

So there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there anything of which one might say,

“See this, it is new”?

Already it has been for ages

Which were before us.

¹¹There is ^ano remembrance of ¹earlier things;

And also of the ²later things which will be,

There will be for them no remembrance

Among those who will come ³later still.

The Vanity of Wisdom

¹²I, the ^aPreacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I ^agave my heart to seek and ^bexplore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is ¹a grievous ^cendeavor which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

¹⁴I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is ^1avanity and striving after wind.

¹⁵What is ^abent cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I spoke within my heart, saying, “Behold, I have magnified and increased ^awisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my heart has seen an abundance of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷And I ^agave my heart to know wisdom and to ^bknow madness and simpleminded folly; I came to know that this also is ^cstriving after wind.

¹⁸Because ^ain much wisdom there is much vexation, and whoever increases knowledge increases pain.

CHAPTER 2

The Vanity of Pleasure and Possessions

¹I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with ^agladness, so that you shall see good things.” And behold, it too was vanity.

^2aI said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of gladness, “What does it do?”

³I explored with my heart how to ^1astimulate my ²body with wine—while my heart was guiding me wisely—and how to seize ^bsimpleminded folly, until I could see ^cwhere is this good for the sons of men in what they do under heaven the few days of their lives.

⁴I made my works great: I ^abuilt houses for myself; I planted ^bvineyards for myself;

⁵I made for myself ^agardens and ^bparks, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;

⁶I made for myself ^apools of water from which to water a forest of growing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves, and I had ^1ahomeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and ^bherds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

⁸Also, I collected for myself silver and ^agold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself ^bmale and female singers and the pleasures of the sons of men—many concubines.

⁹Then I became ^agreat and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.

^10aAll that my eyes asked for I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any gladness, for my heart was glad because of all my labor, and this was my ^breward for all my labor.

¹¹Thus I turned to all my works which my hands had done and the labor which I had labored to do, and behold, all was ^1avanity and striving after wind, and there was ^bno advantage under the sun.

Wisdom Excels Folly

¹²So I turned to ^asee wisdom, madness, and simpleminded folly. What will the man do who will come after the king except ^bwhat has already been done?

¹³And I saw that there is an advantage in ^awisdom over simpleminded folly as light has an advantage over darkness.

¹⁴The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the ^afool walks in darkness. And yet I know that the ^bfate of one becomes the fate of all of them.

¹⁵Then I said in my heart, “^aAs is the fate of the fool, so will my fate be also. ^bWhy then have I been extremely wise?” So I said in my heart, “This too is vanity.”

¹⁶For there is ^ano remembrance of the wise man along with the fool forever, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And ^bhow the wise man dies with the fool!

¹⁷So I ^ahated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ¹grievous to me; because everything is vanity and striving after wind.

The Vanity of Labor

¹⁸Thus I hated ^aall the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must ^bleave it to the man who will come after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether he will be a wise man or ^aa man of simpleminded folly? Yet he will have ¹power over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored and for which I have acted wisely under the sun. This too is ^bvanity.

²⁰Therefore I turned my heart to despair of all my labor for which I had labored under the sun.

²¹When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and ^askill, then he ^bgives his portion to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

²²For what does a man get in ^aall his labor and in the striving of his heart with which he labors under the sun?

²³Because all his days his endeavor is painful and ^avexing; even at night his heart ^bdoes not lie down. This too is vanity.

²⁴¹There is ^anothing better for a man than to eat and drink and have his soul see good in his labor. This also I have seen that it is ^bfrom the hand of God.

²⁵For who can eat and who can have enjoyment outside of ¹Him?

²⁶For to a man who is good before Him, ^aHe has given wisdom and knowledge and gladness, while to the sinner He has given the endeavor of gathering and collecting so that he may ^bgive to one who is good before God. This too is ^cvanity and striving after wind.

CHAPTER 3

A Time for Everything

¹There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a ^atime for every ¹matter under heaven—

²A time to give birth and a ^atime to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

³A ^atime to kill and a time to heal;

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

⁴A time to ^aweep and a time to ^blaugh;

A time to mourn and a time to ^cdance.

⁵A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

⁶A time to search and a time to lose;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

⁷A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;

A time to ^abe silent and a time to speak.

⁸A time to love and a time to ^ahate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

^9aWhat advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors?

¹⁰I have seen the ^aendeavor which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

¹¹He has ^amade everything ¹beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, ²yet so that man ^bwill not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that ¹there is ^anothing better for them than to be glad and to do good in one’s lifetime;

¹³moreover, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor—it is the ^agift of God.

¹⁴I know that everything God does will be forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it—God has so worked that men should ^1afear Him.

¹⁵That ^awhich is has been already and that which will be has already been, yet God seeks what is pursued.

¹⁶Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is ^awickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

¹⁷I said in my heart, “^aGod will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a ^btime for every ¹matter and for every work is there.

¹⁸I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are but ^abeasts.”

^19aFor the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same fate for each of them. As one dies so dies the other, and they all have the same breath. So there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is ¹vanity.

²⁰All go to the same place. All came from the ^adust, and all return to the dust.

²¹Who knows that the ^abreath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

²²I have seen that ^anothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion. For who will bring him to see ^bwhat will occur after him?

CHAPTER 4

The Tears of the Oppressed

¹Then I looked again at all the acts of ^aoppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had ^bno one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.

²So ^aI lauded the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.

³But ^abetter off than both of them is the one who never has been, who has never seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

⁴I have seen that every labor and every ^asuccess of the work is the result of jealousy between a man and his neighbor. This too is ^1bvanity and striving after wind.

⁵The fool ^afolds his hands in embrace and ^bconsumes his own flesh.

⁶One hand full of rest is ^abetter than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

⁷Then I looked again at vanity under the sun.

⁸There was a certain man without a second man, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, ^ahis eyes were not satisfied with riches—“And ^bfor whom am I laboring and depriving myself of good?” This too is vanity, and it is a ^cgrievous endeavor.

⁹Two are better than one because they have good wages for their labor.

¹⁰For if ¹either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not a second one to lift him up.

¹¹Furthermore, if two lie down…