Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 1

The Speaker

1 The words of the Speaker, a son of David and king of Israel in Jerusalem.

Nothing New Under the Sun

2 “Utter futility,”

said the Speaker.

“Utter futility. Everything is futile.”

3 What advantage does a person gain from all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth stands forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and draws toward its place.

6 Rising there, it travels south and circles north; the wind goes circling and circling, and on its circuits the wind returns.

7 All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not filled. To the place where the rivers flow, there they return, to flow again.

8 Everything is wearisome; no one can fully describe it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing.

9 What has happened is what will happen, and what has been done is what will be done. There is nothing new under the sun.

10 Someone will speak and say, “Look, this is new.” It has already existed in ages that came before us.

11 There is no remembrance of earlier things, and later things will not be remembered by those who come afterward.

The Search for Wisdom

12 I, the Speaker, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my heart to seek out and examine with wisdom everything done under heaven. God has given human beings a troubling distraction to occupy them. 14 I saw all the works done under the sun. Look, everything is futile and a restless striving of spirit. 15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. 16 I said in my heart, “Look, I have become great and gained more wisdom than everyone before me in Jerusalem.” My heart saw much wisdom and knowledge. 17 I applied my heart to know wisdom and knowledge, proverbs and understanding. I recognized that this too is a restless striving of spirit. 18 For with abundant wisdom comes abundant knowledge, and whoever increases knowledge increases sorrow.