Ecclesiastes · Free Bible Version
Ecclesiastes 1 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
3 What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
3 What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?
4 People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
4 One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises.
6 The wind blows south, and then turns to the north. Round and round it spins, finally coming full circle.
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 Streams all flow into the sea, but the sea never becomes full. The streams return to the place from where they came.
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 Everything just keeps on going. You can't say all there is to say. You can't see all there is to see. You can't hear all there is to hear.
8 All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 Everything that was will continue to be; everything that has been done will be done again. Nothing new ever happens here.
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 There's nothing anyone can point to and say, “Look! Here's something new.” In fact it's been around for ages, long before our time.
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 The problem is we don't remember people from the past, and people in the future won't remember those who came before them.
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 am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem.
12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 I decided to focus my mind to explore, using wisdom, everything that happens here on earth. This is a tough assignment that God has given people to keep them busy!
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 examined everything people do here on earth, and discovered that it's all so temporary—trying to understand it is like trying to pin down 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 You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
15 That which is crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t be counted.
16 I thought to myself, “I've become very wise, wiser than all the kings of Jerusalem before me. My mind has gained a great deal 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 decided to use my mind to learn everything about wisdom, and madness and foolishness as well. But I found out that this is as hard as trying to catch hold 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 great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
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)