Ecclesiastes 1–12

The Vanity of Life

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

²“Vanity ^b1of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, ^call is vanity.”

^3dWhat profit has a man from all his labor

In which he ²toils under the sun?

⁴One generation passes away, and another generation comes;

^eBut the earth abides forever.

^5fThe sun also rises, and the sun goes down,

And ³hastens to the place where it arose.

^6gThe wind goes toward the south,

And turns around to the north;

The wind whirls about continually,

And comes again on its circuit.

^7hAll the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full;

To the place from which the rivers come,

There they return again.

⁸All things are ⁴full of labor;

Man cannot express it.

ⁱThe eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor the ear filled with hearing.

^9jThat which has been is what will be,

That which is done is what will be done,

And there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there anything of which it may be said,

“See, this is new”?

It has already been in ancient times before us.

¹¹There is ^kno remembrance of former things,

Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come

By those who will come after.

The Grief of Wisdom

¹²I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I set my heart to seek and ^lsearch out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; ^mthis burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be ⁵exercised. ¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁵ⁿWhat is crooked cannot be made straight,

And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

¹⁶I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained ^omore wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has ⁶understood great wisdom and knowledge.” ^17pAnd I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.

¹⁸For ^qin much wisdom is much grief,

And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

The Vanity of Pleasure

2I said ^ain my heart, “Come now, I will test you with ^bmirth; ¹therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, ^cthis also was vanity. ²I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” ^3dI searched in my heart how ²to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was ^egood for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

⁴I made my works great, I built myself ^fhouses, and planted myself vineyards. ⁵I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶I made myself water pools from which to ³water the growing trees of the grove. ⁷I acquired male and female servants, and had ⁴servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. ^8gI also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and ⁵musical instruments of all kinds.

^9hSo I became great and ⁶excelled ⁱmore than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.

I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,

For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;

And ^jthis was my ⁷reward from all my labor.

¹¹Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done

And on the labor in which I had toiled;

And indeed all was ^kvanity and grasping for the wind.

There was no profit under the sun.

The End of the Wise and the Fool

¹²Then I turned myself to consider wisdom ^land madness and folly;

For what can the man do who succeeds the king?—

Only what he has already ^mdone.

¹³Then I saw that wisdom ⁿexcels folly

As light excels darkness.

^14oThe wise man’s eyes are in his head,

But the fool walks in darkness.

Yet I myself perceived

That ^pthe same event happens to them all.

¹⁵So I said in my heart,

“As it happens to the fool,

It also happens to me,

And why was I then more wise?”

Then I said in my heart,

“This also is vanity.”

¹⁶For there is ^qno more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,

Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.

And how does a wise man die?

As the fool!

¹⁷Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁸Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because ^rI must leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. ²¹For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his ⁸heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ^22sFor what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? ²³For all his days are ^tsorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

^24uNothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. ²⁵For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, ⁹more than I? ²⁶For God gives ^vwisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that ^whe may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Everything Has Its Time

3To everything there is a season,

A ^atime for every purpose under heaven:

²A time ¹to be born,

And ^ba time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

³A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

⁴A time to ^cweep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

⁵A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

^dA time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

⁷A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

^eA time to keep silence,

And a time to ^fspeak;

⁸A time to love,

And a time to ^ghate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

^9hWhat profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰ⁱI have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that ^jno one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹²I know that nothing is ^kbetter for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³and also that ^levery man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does,

It shall be forever.

^mNothing can be added to it,

And nothing taken from it.

God does it, that men should fear before Him.

¹⁵ⁿThat which is has already been,

And what is to be has already been;

And God ²requires an account of ³what is past.

Injustice Seems to Prevail

¹⁶Moreover ^oI saw under the sun:

In the place of ⁴judgment,

Wickedness was there;

And in the place of righteousness,

⁵Iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in my heart,

^p“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,

For there is a time there for every ⁶purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” ^19qFor what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to one place: ^rall are from the dust, and all return to dust. ^21sWho ⁷knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? ^22tSo I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for ^uthat is his ⁸heritage. ^vFor who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

4Then I returned and considered all the ^aoppression that is done under the sun:

And look! The tears of the oppressed,

But they have no comforter—

¹On the side of their oppressors there is power,

But they have no comforter.

^2bTherefore I praised the dead who were already dead,

More than the living who are still alive.

^3cYet, better than both is he who has never existed,

Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

The Vanity of Selfish Toil

⁴Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

^5dThe fool folds his hands

And consumes his own flesh.

^6eBetter a handful with quietness

Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

⁷Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

⁸There is one alone, without ²companion:

He has neither son nor brother.

Yet there is no end to all his labors,

Nor is his ^feye satisfied with riches.

But ^ghe never asks,

“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of ^hgood?”

This also is vanity and a ³grave misfortune.

The Value of a Friend

⁹Two are better than one,

Because they have a good reward for their labor.

¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls,

For he has no one to help him up.

¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;

But how can one be warm alone?

¹²Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.

And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away

¹³Better a poor and wise youth

Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.

¹⁴For he comes out of prison to be king,

Although ⁴he was born poor in his kingdom.

¹⁵I saw all the living who walk under the sun;

They were with the second youth who stands in his place.

¹⁶There was no end of all the people ⁵over whom he was made king;

Yet those who come afterward…