Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 1"

Ecclesiastes 1

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.

3 What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?

4 One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.

5 The sun comes up and the sun goes down, and goes quickly back to the place where he came up.

6 The wind goes to the south, turning back again to the north; circling round for ever.

7 All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, there they go again.

8 All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.

9 That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.

10 Is there anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was before us.

11 There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.

12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.

14 I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.

15 That which is bent may not be made straight, and that which is not there may not be numbered.

16 I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.

17 And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.

18 Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.

Good News Translation GNT

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, laboring, 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.

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.

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.