Ecclesiastes 1:3-2:11

Common English Bible

Some things are inevitable

³What do people gain from all the hard work
    that they work so hard at under the sun?
⁴A generation goes, and a generation comes,
    but the earth remains as it always has.
⁵The sun rises, the sun sets;
    it returns panting to the place where it dawns.
⁶The wind blows to the south,
    goes around to the north;
    around and around blows the wind;
    the wind returns to its rounds again.
⁷All streams flow to the sea,
    but the sea is never full;
    to the place where the rivers flow,
    there they continue to flow.
⁸All words^[a] are tiring;
    no one is able to speak.
    The eye isn’t satisfied with seeing,
    neither is the ear filled up by hearing.
⁹Whatever has happened—that’s what will happen again;
    whatever has occurred—that’s what will occur again.

There’s nothing new under the sun. ¹⁰People may say about something: “Look at this! It’s new!” But it was already around for ages before us. ¹¹There’s no remembrance of things in the past, nor of things to come in the future. Neither will there be any remembrance among those who come along in the future.

The Teacher’s quest

¹²I am the Teacher. I was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³I applied my mind to investigate and to explore by wisdom all that happens under heaven. It’s an unhappy obsession that God has given to human beings.

¹⁴When I observed all that happens under the sun, I realized that everything is pointless, a chasing after wind.

¹⁵What’s crooked can’t be straightened;
what isn’t there can’t be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, Look here, I have grown much wiser than any who ruled over Jerusalem before me. My mind has absorbed great wisdom and knowledge. ¹⁷But when I set my mind to understand wisdom, and also to understand madness and folly, I realized that this too was just wind chasing.

¹⁸Remember:
In much wisdom is much aggravation;
the more knowledge, the more pain.

2 I said to myself,^[b] Come, I will make you^[c] experience pleasure; enjoy what is good! But this too was pointless! ²Merriment, I thought, is madness; pleasure, of no use at all. ³I tried cheering myself with wine and by embracing folly—with wisdom still guiding me—until I might see what is really worth doing in the few days that human beings have under heaven.

⁴I took on great projects: I built houses for myself, planted vineyards for myself. ⁵I made gardens and parks for myself, planting every kind of fruit tree in them. ⁶I made reservoirs for myself to water my lush groves. ⁷I acquired male servants and female servants; I even had slaves born in my house. I also had great herds of cattle and sheep, more than any who preceded me in Jerusalem. ⁸I amassed silver and gold for myself, the treasures of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers for myself, along with every human luxury, treasure chests galore!^[d] ⁹So I became far greater than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. Moreover, my wisdom stood by me. ¹⁰I refrained from nothing that my eyes desired. I refused my heart no pleasure. Indeed, my heart found pleasure from the results of my hard work; that was the reward from all my hard work. ¹¹But when I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had worked so hard to achieve, I realized that it was pointless—a chasing after wind. Nothing is to be gained under the sun.