The Heading
1 The words of Ecclesiastes,[a] David’s son, king in Jerusalem.
The Problem
2 “Nothing but vapor,”[b] Ecclesiastes said. “Totally vapor. Everything is just vapor that vanishes.”
3 What does anyone gain by all his hard work, at which he works hard under the sun? 4 A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth keeps standing forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets. It hurries back, panting and out of breath, to its starting point, where it rises again. 6 The wind goes round and round. Blowing south, then blowing north, the wind keeps going around in circles. 7 All streams keep flowing to the sea, but the sea is never full. The streams keep coming back to the same place, and then they flow out again.
8 Everything is tedious and tiresome, more than one can tell. No eye ever sees enough, and no ear ever gets its fill of hearing.
9 Whatever has been is what will be again, and whatever has already been done is what will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a single thing about which one can say, “Look, this is new”? It was already here ages ago, long before us. 11 No one remembers the people who[c] came before us, and as for those who are coming—after they are gone, no one will remember them either.
Search for a Solution
12 I, Ecclesiastes, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my heart to seek out and explore with wisdom everything done under the sky.[d] (What a burdensome task[e] God has given the children of Adam to keep them busy!) 14 I have seen all the actions done under the sun, and, look, it is all nothing but vapor. It is all chasing the wind. 15 Whatever is crooked cannot be straightened. Whatever is not there cannot be counted.
16 I thought in my heart, “Look, I have become great and accumulated more wisdom than anyone ruling over Jerusalem before me. My mind[f] has absorbed so much wisdom and knowledge.” 17 I applied my heart to understand wisdom and knowledge, madness and stupidity. I realized that this too is chasing the wind. 18 In fact, with much wisdom comes much frustration.[g] The more knowledge, the more pain!
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 1:1 See the introduction on the origin and meaning of the name Ecclesiastes.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 Other possible translations are mist, breath, futility, or emptiness. Since vapor does not last, it serves as an appropriate symbol for everything that is transient, futile, or useless.
- Ecclesiastes 1:11 Or the events that
- Ecclesiastes 1:13 Or the heavens
- Ecclesiastes 1:13 Or rotten business
- Ecclesiastes 1:16 Literally heart. In Hebrew thought, the heart is the center not only of emotion but also of the intellect.
- Ecclesiastes 1:18 Or grief