Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 1"

Ecclesiastes 1

English Standard Version ESV

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

2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

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

5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.

7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

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

10 Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said in my heart, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge."

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.

18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

The Message Bible MSG

1 These are the words of the Quester, David's son and king in Jerusalem:

2 Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That's what the Quester says.] There's nothing to anything - it's all smoke.

3 What's there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone?

4 One generation goes its way, the next one arrives, but nothing changes - it's business as usual for old planet earth.

5 The sun comes up and the sun goes down, then does it again, and again - the same old round.

6 The wind blows south, the wind blows north. Around and around and around it blows, blowing this way, then that - the whirling, erratic wind.

7 All the rivers flow into the sea, but the sea never fills up. The rivers keep flowing to the same old place, and then start all over and do it again.

8 Everything's boring, utterly boring - no one can find any meaning in it. Boring to the eye, boring to the ear.

9 What was will be again, what happened will happen again. There's nothing new on this earth. Year after year it's the same old thing.

10 Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"? Don't get excited - it's the same old story.

11 Nobody remembers what happened yesterday. And the things that will happen tomorrow? Nobody'll remember them either. Don't count on being remembered.

12 Call me "the Quester." I've been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 I looked most carefully into everything, searched out all that is done on this earth. And let me tell you, there's not much to write home about. God hasn't made it easy for us.

14 I've seen it all and it's nothing but smoke - smoke, and spitting into the wind.

15 Life's a corkscrew that can't be straightened, A minus that won't add up.

16 I said to myself, "I know more and I'm wiser than anyone before me in Jerusalem. I've stockpiled wisdom and knowledge."

17 What I've finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless - nothing but spitting into the wind.

18 Much learning earns you much trouble. The more you know, the more you hurt.