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Nothing Makes Sense
When the son of David was king in Jerusalem, he was known to be very wise, and he said:
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Nothing makes sense! Everything is nonsense. I have seen it all— nothing makes sense!
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What is there to show for all of our hard work here on this earth?
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People come, and people go, but still the world never changes.
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The sun comes up, the sun goes down; it hurries right back to where it started from.
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The wind blows south, the wind blows north; round and round it blows over and over again.
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All rivers empty into the sea, but it never spills over; one by one the rivers return to their source.
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All of life is far more boring than words could ever say. Our eyes and our ears are never satisfied with what we see and hear.
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Everything that happens has happened before; nothing is new, nothing under the sun.
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Someone might say, “Here is something new!” But it happened before, long before we were born.
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It Is Senseless To Be Wise
I said these things when I lived in Jerusalem as king of Israel.
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With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do.
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I have seen it all, and everything is just as senseless as chasing the wind.
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If something is crooked, it can't be made straight; if something isn't there, it can't be counted.
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I said to myself, “You are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in Jerusalem. You are eager to learn, and you have learned a lot.”
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Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind.
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The more you know, the more you hurt; the more you understand, the more you suffer.
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It Is Senseless To Be Selfish
I said to myself, “Have fun and enjoy yourself!” But this didn't make sense.
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I wanted to find out what was best for us during the short time we have on this earth. So I decided to make myself happy with wine and find out what it means to be foolish, without really being foolish myself.
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I did some great things. I built houses and planted vineyards.
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I owned slaves, and their sons and daughters became my slaves. I had more sheep and goats than anyone who had ever lived in Jerusalem.
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Foreign rulers brought me silver, gold, and precious treasures. Men and women sang for me, and I had many wives who gave me great pleasure.
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Then I thought about everything I had done, including the hard work, and it was simply chasing the wind. Nothing on earth is worth the trouble.
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Wisdom Comes from God
I asked myself, “What can the next king do that I haven't done?” Then I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and stupidity.
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Wisdom is like having two good eyes; foolishness leaves you in the dark. But wise or foolish, we all end up the same.