Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 1"

Ecclesiastes 1

NCV

NIV

1 These are the words of the Teacher, a son of David, kingin Jerusalem.
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 The Teacher says, "Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless."
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people really gain from all the hard work they do here on earth?
3 What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
4 People live, and people die, but the earth continues forever.
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, the sun sets, and then it hurries back to where it rises again.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south; it blows to the north. It blows from one direction and then another. Then it turns around and repeats the same pattern, going nowhere.
6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
7 All the rivers flow to the sea, but the sea never becomes full.
7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
8 Everything is boring, so boring that you don't even want to talk about it. Words come again and again to our ears, but we never hear enough, nor can we ever really see all we want to see.
8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. What has happened will happen again; there is nothing new here on earth.
9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Someone might say, "Look, this is new," but really it has always been here. It was here before we were.
10 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
11 People don't remember what happened long ago, and in the future people will not remember what happens now. Even later, other people will not remember what was done before them.
11 No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 I decided to use my wisdom to learn about everything that happens on earth. I learned that God has given us terrible things to face.
13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!
14 I looked at everything done on earth and saw that it is all useless, like chasing the wind.
14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 If something is crooked, you can't make it straight. If something is missing, you can't say it is there.
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, "I have become very wise and am now wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are."
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 So I decided to find out about wisdom and knowledge and also about foolish thinking, but this turned out to be like chasing the wind.
17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 With much wisdom comes much disappointment; the person who gains more knowledge also gains more sorrow.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.