Ecclesiastes 1

Everything Is Futile

1 These are the words of the Teacher, ¹ the son of David, king in Jerusalem: ‡ Ecc 12:8-10Ecc 1:12Ecc 7:271Ki 11:42-432Ch 10:17-192Ch 9:302Pe 2:5Isa 61:1 +3

2 “Futility ²of futilities,” ‡ Psa 144:4Rom 8:20Ecc 5:10Psa 39:5-6Ecc 12:8Ecc 2:26Ecc 2:11Ecc 2:17 +12

says the Teacher,

“futility of futilities!

Everything is futile!”

3 What does a man gain from all his labor, ‡ Ecc 3:9Ecc 2:22Ecc 5:16Ecc 2:11Mrk 8:36-37Jhn 6:27Pro 23:4-5Ecc 2:19 +13

at which he toils under the sun?

4 Generations come and generations go, ‡ Psa 104:5Ecc 6:12Zec 1:5Mat 24:35Psa 119:90-912Pe 3:10-13Psa 102:24-28Psa 89:47-48 +7

but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets; ‡ Hab 3:11Psa 19:4-6Psa 42:1Gen 8:22Jos 10:13-14Psa 104:19-23Psa 89:36-37Jer 33:20

it hurries back to where it rises.

6 The wind blows southward, ‡ Jhn 3:8Ecc 11:5Job 37:17Job 37:9Psa 107:25Psa 107:29Act 27:13-15Jon 1:4 +2

then turns northward;

round and round it swirls,

ever returning on its course.

7 All the rivers flow into the sea, ‡ Job 38:10-11Psa 104:6-9

yet the sea is never full;

to the place from which the streams come,

there again they flow.

8 All things are wearisome, ‡ Pro 27:20Mat 11:28Ecc 4:8Ecc 2:11Ecc 2:26Ecc 4:1-4Ecc 5:10-11Ecc 7:24-26 +5

more than one can describe;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear content with hearing.

9 What has been will be again, ‡ Ecc 3:15Ecc 6:10Rev 21:1Ecc 2:12Ecc 7:10Isa 43:19Jer 31:222Pe 2:1 +1

and what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there a case where one can say, ‡ Act 7:51Luk 17:26-30Mat 23:30-322Ti 3:8Mat 5:121Th 2:14-16

“Look, this is new”?

It has already existed

in the ages before us.

11 There is no remembrance ‡ Ecc 2:16Psa 9:6Ecc 9:5Isa 42:9Isa 41:22-26

of those who came before,

and those yet to come will not be remembered

by those who follow after.

With Wisdom Comes Sorrow

12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ‡ Ecc 1:11Ki 4:1-19 13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them! ‡ Ecc 3:10Gen 3:191Ti 4:15Ecc 8:16-17Ecc 1:17Ecc 12:12Ecc 7:25Ecc 2:23 +9

14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind. ‡ Ecc 2:11Ecc 2:17Ecc 2:26Ecc 6:9Ecc 1:17-18Ecc 4:4Psa 39:5-61Ki 4:30-32

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened, ‡ Ecc 7:12-13Mat 6:27Ecc 3:14Isa 40:4Job 11:6Job 34:29Lam 3:37Dan 4:35

and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” ‡ Ecc 2:91Ki 4:301Ki 10:71Ki 3:12-132Ch 1:10-122Ch 2:12Heb 5:14Psa 4:4 +8

17 So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind. ‡ Ecc 2:31Th 5:21Ecc 1:13-14Ecc 2:10-12Ecc 7:23-25

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, ‡ Job 28:28Ecc 12:12-131Co 3:18-20Ecc 7:16Ecc 2:23Jas 3:13-17Ecc 2:15

and as knowledge grows, grief increases.