Ecclesiastes 1

The Futility of All Endeavor

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 "tVanity of vanities," says the Preacher,
"Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."

3 What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?

4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the earth remains forever.

5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.

6 Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.

7 All the rivers flow 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;
Man is not able to tell it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

9 That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there anything of which one might say,
"See this, it is new"?
Already it has existed for ages
Which were before us.

11 There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still.

The Futility of Wisdom

12 I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.15 What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge."17 And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind.18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

Ecclesiastes 1

Title

1 The words of the Teacher,ts the sont of David, kings in Jerusalem:ss

Introduction: Utter Futility

2 “Futile! Futile!” lamentst the Teacher,s
“Absolutely futile!t Everythingt is futile!”ts

Futility Illustrated from Nature

3 What benefitt do peoplet get from all the effort
whicht they expends on earth?ts

4 A generation comest and a generation goes,t
but the earth remainst the samet through the ages.t

5 The sun risest and the sun sets;t
it hurries awayt to a place from which it risest again.t

6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north;
round and roundt the wind goes and on its rounds it returns.t

7 All the streams flowt into the sea, but the sea is not full,
and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again.ts

8 All thist monotonyt is tiresome; no one can beart to describe it:ts
The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever contentt with hearing.

9 What exists nowt is what will be,t
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing truly new on earth.t

10 Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”?t
It was alreadyt done long ago,s before our time.t

11 No one remembers the former events,t
nor will anyone remembert the events that are yet to happen;ts
they will not be remembered by the future generations.ts

Futility of Secular Accomplishment

12 I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.s

13 I decidedt to carefullyt and thoroughly examinet
all that has been accomplished on earth.ts
I concluded:t God has given peoplet a burdensome taskt
that keeps themt occupied.t

14 I reflected on everything that is accomplished by mant on earth,t
and I concluded: Everythingt he has accomplishedt is futilet – like chasing the wind!t

15 What is bentt cannot be straightened,t
and what is missingt cannot be supplied.t

Futility of Secular Wisdom

16 I thought to myself,t
“I have become much wisert than any of my predecessors who ruledt over Jerusalem;s
It have acquired much wisdom and knowledge.”t

17 So I decidedt to discern the benefit oft wisdom and knowledge overt foolish behavior and ideas;t
however, I concludedt that event this endeavort is liket trying to chase the wind!t

18 For with great wisdom comest great frustration;
whoever increases hist knowledge merelyt increases hist heartache.