The Book of Ecclesiastes
Chapter 1
Life is Useless
[1]These are the words of the Philosopher, David's son, who was king in Jerusalem.
[2]It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless.
[3]You spend your life working, labouring, and what do you have to show for it?
[4]Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same.
[5]The sun still rises, and it still goes down, going wearily back to where it must start all over again.
[6]The wind blows south, the wind blows north — round and round and back again.
[7]Every river flows into the sea, but the sea is not yet full. The water returns to where the rivers began, and starts all over again.
[8]Everything leads to weariness — a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough.
[9]What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world.
[10]“Look,” they say, “here is something new!” But no, it has all happened before, long before we were born.
[11]No one remembers what has happened in the past, and no one in days to come will remember what happens between now and then.
The Philosopher's Experience
[12]I, the Philosopher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
[13]I determined that I would examine and study all the things that are done in this world.God has laid a miserable fate upon us.
[14]I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.
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| I tell you, it is all useless (1.14) |
[15]You can't straighten out what is crooked; you can't count things that aren't there.
[16]I told myself, “I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.”
[17]I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness, wisdom and madness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind.
[18]The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts.