Ecclesiastes · Berean Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 1 Berean Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
3 What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
3 What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
4 One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises.
6 The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses.
7 All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.
7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.
8 All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
8 All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
9 That which has been is that which shall be, and that which has been done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.
10 Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new”? It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
11 There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
11 There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
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!
13 I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
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.
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
15 That which is crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t 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.”
16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
17 I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Cross references (18)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ecclesiastes 12:8–10; Ecclesiastes 1:12; Ecclesiastes 7:27; 1 Kings 11:42–43; 2 Peter 2:5
- 2 Psalm 144:4; Romans 8:20; Ecclesiastes 5:10; Psalm 39:5–6; Ecclesiastes 12:8
- 3 Ecclesiastes 3:9; Ecclesiastes 5:16; Ecclesiastes 2:22; Mark 8:36–37; Ecclesiastes 2:11
- 4 Psalm 104:5; Zechariah 1:5; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Matthew 24:35; Psalm 119:90–91
- 5 Psalm 42:1; Habakkuk 3:11; Psalm 19:4–6; Psalm 104:19–23; Joshua 10:13–14
- 6 John 3:8; Ecclesiastes 11:5; Job 37:9; Psalm 107:29; Job 37:17
- 7 Job 38:10–11
- 8 Proverbs 27:20; Matthew 11:28; Ecclesiastes 4:8; Ecclesiastes 5:10–11; Psalm 63:5
- 9 Ecclesiastes 3:15; Ecclesiastes 6:10; Revelation 21:1; Ecclesiastes 2:12; Ecclesiastes 7:10
- 10 Acts 7:51; Matthew 23:30–32; Luke 17:26–30; Matthew 5:12; 2 Timothy 3:8
- 11 Ecclesiastes 2:16; Psalm 9:6; Ecclesiastes 9:5; Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 41:22–26
- 12 Ecclesiastes 1:1; 1 Kings 4:1–19
- 13 Ecclesiastes 3:10; Genesis 3:19; 1 Timothy 4:15; Ecclesiastes 8:16–17; Ecclesiastes 1:17
- 14 Ecclesiastes 2:11; Ecclesiastes 2:17; Ecclesiastes 2:26; Ecclesiastes 6:9; Ecclesiastes 1:17–18
- 15 Ecclesiastes 7:12–13; Matthew 6:27; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Isaiah 40:4; Lamentations 3:37
- 16 Ecclesiastes 2:9; 1 Kings 4:30; 1 Kings 10:7; 1 Kings 3:12–13; Hebrews 5:14
- 17 Ecclesiastes 2:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; Ecclesiastes 7:23–25; Ecclesiastes 2:10–12; Ecclesiastes 1:13–14
- 18 Job 28:28; Ecclesiastes 12:12–13; 1 Corinthians 3:18–20; Ecclesiastes 7:16; James 3:13–17
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
"Do I not weep much the more?" For, "He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow." The more I long for what is not here, do I not so much the more groan for it until it comes?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
But thou canst not; for, "vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Let us go to the tombs; show me thy father; show me thy wife.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)