Ecclesiastes 1
1
Nothing Makes Sense
1When the son of David was king in Jerusalem, he was known to be very wise,#1.1 known to be very wise: This stands for the Hebrew word often translated “preacher” or “teacher.” The word may refer to someone who was a very wise leader or to someone who had become wise from collecting sayings about wisdom. and he said:
2Nothing makes sense!
Everything is nonsense.
I have seen it all—
nothing makes sense!
3What is there to show
for all of our hard work
here on this earth?
4 #
Si 14.18. People come, and people go,
but still the world
never changes.
5The sun comes up,
the sun goes down;
it hurries right back
to where it started from.
6The wind blows south,
the wind blows north;
round and round it blows
over and over again.
7All rivers empty into the sea,
but it never spills over;
one by one the rivers return
to their source.#1.7 return to their source: Or “flow into the sea.”
8All of life is far more boring
than words could ever say.
Our eyes and our ears
are never satisfied
with what we see and hear.
9Everything that happens
has happened before;
nothing is new,
nothing under the sun.
10Someone might say,
“Here is something new!”
But it happened before,
long before we were born.
11No one who lived in the past
is remembered anymore,
and everyone yet to be born
will be forgotten too.
It Is Senseless To Be Wise
12I said these things when I lived in Jerusalem as king of Israel. 13With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do. 14I have seen it all, and everything is just as senseless as chasing the wind.#1.14 chasing the wind: Or “eating the wind.”
15If something is crooked,
it can't be made straight;
if something isn't there,
it can't be counted.
16 #
1 K 4.29-31; Si 47.14-18. I said to myself, “You are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in Jerusalem. You are eager to learn, and you have learned a lot.” 17Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind.#1.17 chasing the wind: See the note at 1.14.
18The more you know,
the more you hurt;
the more you understand,
the more you suffer.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 1
1
The Futility of All Endeavors
1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher.
“Vanity of vanities! All [that is done without God’s guidance] is vanity [futile, meaningless—a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes, merely chasing the wind].” [Rom 8:20]
3¶What advantage does man have from all his work
Which he does #1:3 Ecclesiastes expresses the view of the natural man whose interests are focused on vanishing pleasures and empty satisfactions. The natural man is not aware that all the answers to life are found in God. The natural man grovels in the earth and seeks and finds that which is futile and temporary while the spiritual man soars on wings of eagles (Is 40:31) and seeks and finds righteousness and God’s incomparable and everlasting blessings and companionship.under the sun (while earthbound)?
4One generation goes and another generation comes,
But the earth remains forever. [Ps 119:90]
5Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hurries to the place where it rises again.
6The wind blows toward the south,
Then circles toward the north;
The wind circles and swirls endlessly,
And on its circular course the wind returns. [John 3:8]
7All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.
8All things are wearisome and all words are frail;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing. [Prov 27:20]
9That which has been is that which will be [again],
And that which has been done is that which will be done again.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there anything of which it can be said,
“See this, it is new”?
It has already existed for [the vast] ages [of time recorded or unrecorded]
Which were before us.
11There is no remembrance of earlier things,
Nor also of the later things that are to come;
There will be for them no remembrance
By generations who will come after them.
The Futility of Wisdom
12I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13And I set my mind to seek and explore by [man’s] #1:13 The “wisdom” of Proverbs is not the “wisdom” of Ecclesiastes. The former is godly wisdom; the latter is usually human wisdom.wisdom all [human activity] that has been done under heaven. It is a miserable business and a burdensome task which #1:13 Heb Elohim: mighty, creator, ruler of man and nature.God has given the sons of men with which to be busy and distressed. 14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind. 15What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted.
16I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom and experience, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.” 17And I set my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I realized that this too is a futile grasping and chasing after the wind. [1 Thess 5:21] 18For in much [human] wisdom there is much displeasure and exasperation; increasing knowledge increases sorrow.
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