Ecclesiastes 1:17

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.

Ecclesiastes 1:17 in Other Translations

KJV
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
ESV
17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
NLT
17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
MSG
17 What I've finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless - nothing but spitting into the wind.
CSB
17 I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:17 In-Context

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
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 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 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Ecclesiastes 7:23; Ecclesiastes 8:16
  • 2. Ecclesiastes 2:3,12; Ecclesiastes 7:25
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