Logos Bible Study

Ecclesiastes 1:7–8

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary LanguageOther versions

English

Arabic

Czech

French

German

Hebrew

Hungarian

Italian

Korean

Latin

Portuguese

Russian

Simplified Chinese

Spanish

Traditional Chinese

All the rivers flow into the sea,

but the sea never fills up.

The rivers keep flowing to the same old place,

and then start all over and do it again.

Everything’s boring, utterly boring—

no one can find any meaning in it.

Boring to the eye,

boring to the ear.

Read in Logos

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

All streams flow into the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

To the place the streams come from,

there they return again.

All things are wearisome,

more than one can say.

The eye never has enough of seeing,

nor the ear its fill of hearing.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

All the streams flow to the sea,

yet the sea is never full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

All things are wearisome,

more than anyone can say.

The eye is not satisfied by seeing

or the ear filled with hearing.

NLTNew Living Translation

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. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

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.

All things toil continuously;

no one can ever finish describing this.

The eye is never satisfied with seeing,

and the ear is never filled with hearing.

KJV 1900King James Version

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. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.