Ecclesiastes 1-4

English Standard Version

All Is Vanity

1 The words of ^(A)the Preacher,^[a] the son of David, ^(B)king in Jerusalem.

The Vanity of Wisdom

¹² I ^(Q)the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I ^(R)applied my heart^[f] to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy ^(S)business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹⁴ I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is ^(T)vanity^[g] and a striving after wind.^[h]

¹⁶ I said in my heart, “I have acquired great ^(V)wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ And I ^(W)applied my heart to know wisdom and to know ^(X)madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but ^(Y)a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

2 I ^(AA)said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.^{[i] 2} I ^(AB)said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” ³ I ^(AC)searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on ^(AD)folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. ⁴ I made great works. I ^(AE)built houses and planted ^(AF)vineyards for myself. ⁵ I made myself ^(AG)gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶ I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves, and had ^(AH)slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of ^(AI)herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. ⁸ I also gathered for myself silver and ^(AJ)gold and the treasure of ^(AK)kings and ^(AL)provinces. I got ^(AM)singers, both men and women, and many ^(AN)concubines,^[j] the delight of the sons of man.

⁹ So I became great and ^(AO)surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my ^(AP)wisdom remained with me. ¹⁰ And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart ^(AQ)found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my ^(AR)reward for all my toil. ¹¹ Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was ^(AS)vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing ^(AT)to be gained under the sun.

The Vanity of Living Wisely

^12 (AU)So I turned to consider ^(AV)wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only ^(AW)what has already been done. ¹³ Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. ^14 (AX)The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the ^(AY)same event happens to all of them. ¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, ^(AZ)“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. ¹⁶ For of the wise as of the fool there is ^(BA)no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. ^(BB)How the wise dies just like the fool! ¹⁷ So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for ^(BC)all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

¹⁸ I hated ^(BD)all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must ^(BE)leave it to the man who will come after me, ¹⁹ and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ So I ^(BF)turned about and gave my heart up to despair ^(BG)over all the toil of my labors under the sun, ²¹ because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²² What has a man from ^(BH)all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? ²³ For ^(BI)all his days are full of sorrow, and his ^(BJ)work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

^24 (BK)There is nothing better for a person than that he should ^(BL)eat and drink and find enjoyment^[k] in his toil. This also, I saw, is ^(BM)from the hand of God, ²⁵ for apart from him^[l] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? ²⁶ For to the one who pleases him ^(BN)God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given ^(BO)the business of gathering and collecting, ^(BP)only to give to one who pleases God. ^(BQ)This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

A Time for Everything

3 For everything there is a season, and ^(BR)a time for every matter under heaven:

The God-Given Task

⁹ What ^(CD)gain has the worker from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen ^(CE)the business that ^(CF)God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹ He has ^(CG)made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot ^(CH)find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹² I perceived that there is ^(CI)nothing better for them than to be joyful and to ^(CJ)do good as long as they live; ¹³ also ^(CK)that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is ^(CL)God's gift to man.

¹⁴ I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; ^(CM)nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. ¹⁵ That which is, ^(CN)already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God ^(CO)seeks what has been driven away.^[m]

From Dust to Dust

¹⁶ Moreover, ^(CP)I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even ^(CQ)there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. ¹⁷ I said in my heart, ^(CR)God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is ^(CS)a time for every matter and for every work. ¹⁸ I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but ^(CT)beasts. ^19 (CU)For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.^{[n] 20} All go to one place. All are from ^(CV)the dust, and to dust all return. ²¹ Who knows whether ^(CW)the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? ²² So I saw that there is ^(CX)nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for ^(CY)that is his lot. Who can bring him to see ^(CZ)what will be after him?

Evil Under the Sun

4 ^(DA)Again I ^(DB)saw all ^(DC)the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had ^(DD)no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. ² And I ^(DE)thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. ³ But ^(DF)better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

⁴ Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is ^(DG)vanity^[o] and a striving after wind.

⁵ The fool ^(DH)folds his hands and ^(DI)eats his own flesh.

^6 (DJ)Better is a handful of ^(DK)quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

^7 (DL)Again, I saw vanity under the sun: ⁸ one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his ^(DM)eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, ^(DN)“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy ^(DO)business.

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, ^(DP)but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³ Better was ^(DQ)a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how ^(DR)to take advice. ¹⁴ For he went ^(DS)from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. ¹⁵ I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that^[p] youth who was to stand in the king's^[q] place. ¹⁶ There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is ^(DT)vanity and a striving after wind.