RSV Ecc 1 Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1:1
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
1:2
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
1:3
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
1:4
A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever.
1:5
The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
1:6
The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north;round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.
1:7
All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full;to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
1:8
All things are full of weariness;a man cannot utter it;the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
1:9
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done;and there is nothing new under the sun.
1:10
Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See, this is new'? It has been already, in the ages before us.
1:11
There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after.
1:12
I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13
And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven;it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.
1:14
I have seen everything that is done under the sun;and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
1:15
What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered.
1:16
I said to myself, 'I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me;and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.'
1:17
And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
1:18
For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.