Ecclesiastes · Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Ecclesiastes 1 Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 The words of the preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities; all [is] vanity.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
3 What profit hath a man of all his labor, which he taketh under the sun?
3 What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?
4 [One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
4 One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises.
6 The wind goeth towards the south, and turneth about to the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to its circuits.
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 run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not full; to the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
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] full of labor; man cannot utter [it] : the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled 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 The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] 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 [any] thing of which it may be said, See, this [is] new? it hath been already of old time, which was 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 former [things] ; neither shall there be [any] remembrance of [things] that are to come with [those] that shall come 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 preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all [things] that are done under heaven: this grievous labor hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised with it.
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 works that are done under the sun; and behold, all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
15 [That which is] crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
15 That which is crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t be counted.
16 I communed with my own heart, saying, Lo, I have come to great estate, and have gained more wisdom than all [they] that have been before me in Jerusalem: and my heart had great experience 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 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
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 in much wisdom [is] much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
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)