Ecclesiastes 1-2

Ecclesiastes 1

¹These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

²“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

³What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

⁴Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

⁵The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.

⁶The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.

⁷All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.

⁸All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

⁹What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.

¹²I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And 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!

¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I 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.”

¹⁷So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

Ecclesiastes 2

¹I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.

²I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

³I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

⁴I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

⁵I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees.

⁷I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me,

⁸and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.

⁹So I became great and surpassed all in Jerusalem who had preceded me; and my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

¹¹Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹²Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?

¹³And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:

¹⁴The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

¹⁵So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

¹⁶For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!

¹⁷So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁸I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

²⁰So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.

²¹When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

²²For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?

²³Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

²⁴Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

²⁵For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment?

²⁶To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.