Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 1"

Ecclesiastes 1

New Living Translation NLT

1 These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.

2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?

4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.

6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.

7 Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.

8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

10 Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.

11 We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

12 I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem.

13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.

14 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

15 What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”

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.

18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 The words of Kohelet the son of David, king in Yerushalayim:

2 Pointless! Pointless! - says Kohelet -Utterly meaningless! Nothing matters!

3 What does a person gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?

4 Generations come, generations go, but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises, the sun sets; then it speeds to its place and rises there.

6 The wind blows south, then it turns north; the wind blows all around and keeps returning to its rounds.

7 All the rivers flow to the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers flow, there they keep on flowing.

8 Everything is wearisome, more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, the ear not filled up with hearing.

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

10 Is there something of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It existed already in the ages before us.

11 No one remembers the people of long ago; and those to come will not be remembered by those who come after them.

12 I, Kohelet, have been king over Isra'el in Yerushalayim.

13 I wisely applied myself to seek out and investigate everything done under heaven. What a bothersome task God has given humanity to keep us occupied!

14 I have seen all the activities that are done under the sun, and it's all pointless, feeding on wind.

15 What is crooked can't be straightened; what is not there can't be counted.

16 I said to myself, "Look, I have acquired much wisdom, more than anyone ruling Yerushalayim before me."Yes, I experienced a great deal of wisdom and knowledge;

17 yet when I applied myself to understanding wisdom and knowledge, as well as stupidity and folly, I came to see that this too was merely feeding on wind.

18 For in much wisdom is much grief; the more knowledge, the more suffering.