Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26

New International Version

Wisdom Is Meaningless

¹²I, the Teacher,^(A) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.^(B) ¹³I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.^(C) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!^(D) ¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(E)

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened;^(F)
what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;^(G) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(H) and also of madness and folly,^(I) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;^(J)
the more knowledge, the more grief.^(K)

Pleasures Are Meaningless

2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure^(L) to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. ²“Laughter,”^(M) I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” ³I tried cheering myself with wine,^(N) and embracing folly^(O)—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

⁴I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself^(P) and planted vineyards.^(Q) ⁵I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. ⁷I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves^(R) who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. ⁸I amassed silver and gold^(S) for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.^(T) I acquired male and female singers,^(U) and a harem^[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. ⁹I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem^(V) before me.^(W) In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

¹⁰I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
    I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
    and this was the reward for all my toil.
¹¹Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
    and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;^(X)
    nothing was gained under the sun.^(Y)

Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless

¹²Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
    and also madness and folly.^(Z)
What more can the king’s successor do
    than what has already been done?^(AA)
¹³I saw that wisdom^(AB) is better than folly,^(AC)
    just as light is better than darkness.
¹⁴The wise have eyes in their heads,
    while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
    that the same fate overtakes them both.^(AD)

¹⁵Then I said to myself,

“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
    What then do I gain by being wise?”^(AE)
I said to myself,
    “This too is meaningless.”
¹⁶For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;^(AF)
    the days have already come when both have been forgotten.^(AG)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!^(AH)

Toil Is Meaningless

¹⁷So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(AI) ¹⁸I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.^(AJ) ¹⁹And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?^(AK) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²²What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?^(AL) ²³All their days their work is grief and pain;^(AM) even at night their minds do not rest.^(AN) This too is meaningless.

²⁴A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink^(AO) and find satisfaction in their own toil.^(AP) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,^(AQ) ²⁵for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?^(AR) ²⁶To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,^(AS) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth^(AT) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.^(AU) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.