Ecclesiastes 1-4

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 miserable task 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.

Ecclesiastes 3

¹To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:

²a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build,

⁴a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

⁶a time to search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard,

⁷a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What does the worker gain from his toil?

¹⁰I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.

¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,

¹³and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.

¹⁵What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

¹⁶Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

¹⁷I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

¹⁸I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”

¹⁹For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

²⁰All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

²¹Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?

²²I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?

Ecclesiastes 4

¹Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

²So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.

³But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

⁴I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁵The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.

⁶Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.

⁷Again, I saw futility under the sun.

⁸There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.

¹⁰For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!

¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?

¹²And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

¹³Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.

¹⁴For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.

¹⁵I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.

¹⁶There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.