Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 1"

Ecclesiastes 1

Revised Standard Version RSV

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 for ever.

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 round to the north; round and round 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 happen among those who come after.

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

13 And I applied my mind 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 sons of men 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 numbered.

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

17 And I applied my mind 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.

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.