Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1
Ecclesiastes 1 RSV - Revised Standard VersionChapter 1 of Ecclesiastes—Revised Standard Version (RSV)
- ¶ The words of the Preacher,[a] the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
- ¶ Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity. - What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun? - A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains for ever. - The sun rises and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises. - 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. - All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again. - All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing. - 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. - Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already,
in the ages before us. - There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to happen
among those who come after. - ¶ I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
- 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.
- I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.[b]
- ¶ What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be numbered. - ¶ 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.”
- 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.
- ¶ For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
FOOTNOTES
- ^ Heb Qoheleth
- ^ Or a feeding on wind. See Hos 12.1
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