1 THE words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

1The wordes of the Preacher, the son of Dauid, King in Ierusalem.

2Uanitie of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanitie of vanities, all is vanitie.

3What profite hath a man of all his labour which hee taketh vnder the Sunne?

4One generation passeth away, and another generation commeth: but the earth abideth for euer.

5The Sunne also ariseth, and the Sunne goeth downe, and hasteth to the place where he arose.

6The winde goeth toward the South, and turneth about vnto the North; it whirleth about continually, and the winde returneth againe according to his circuits.

7All the riuers runne into the sea, yet the Sea is not full: vnto the place from whence the riuers come, thither they returne againe.

8All things are full of labour, man cannot vtter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the eare filled with hearing.

9The thing that hath beene, it is that which shall be: and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing vnder the sunne.

10Is there any thing, whereof it may be sayd, See, this is new? it hath beene already of olde time, which was before vs.

11There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there bee any remembrance of things that are to come, with those that shall come after.

12 I the Preacher was king ouer Israel in Ierusalem.

13And I gaue my heart to seeke and search out by wisedome, concerning all things that are done vnder heauen: this sore trauell hath God giuen to the sonnes of man, to be exercised therewith.

14I haue seene all the workes that are done vnder the Sunne, and behold, all is vanitie, and vexation of spirit.

15That which is crooked, cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbred.

16I communed with mine owne heart, saying, Loe, I am come to great estate, and haue gotten more wisedome then all they that haue beene before me in Ierusalem: yea my heart had great experience of wisedome & knowledge.

17And I gaue my heart to know wisedome, and to know madnesse and folly: I perceiued that this also is vexation of spirit.

18For in much wisedome is much griefe: and hee that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.

I == Eccl 1:12 ; 7:27 ; 12:8-10

II == Ps 39:5-6 ; 62:9 ; 144:4 ; Eccl 12:8 ; Rom 8:20

III == Eccl 2:22 ; 3:9

IV == Ps 104:5 , 119:90

V == Ps 19:5-6

VI == John 3:8

VII == Job 38:10 ; Ps 104:8-9

VIII == Prov 27:20

IX == Eccl 3:15

XII == Eccl 1:1

XIII == Gen 3:10 , 19

XV == Eccl 7:13

XVI == 1st Kings 3:12-13 ; 4:30 ; 10:7 , 23

XVII == Eccl 2:3 , 12 ; 7:23 , 25 ; 1st thess 5:21

XVIII == Eccl 12:12

1 The words of David's son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem:

2 Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!

3 What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?

4 One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.

5 The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises.

6 Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.

7 All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going.

8 All speech is labored; there is nothing man can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing.

9 What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.

10 Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us.

11 There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.

12 I, Qoheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem,

13 and I applied my mind to search and investigate in wisdom all things that are done under the sun. A thankless task God has appointed for men to be busied about.

14 I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is missing cannot be supplied.

16 Though I said to myself, "Behold, I have become great and stored up wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has broad experience of wisdom and knowledge";

17 yet when I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly, I learned that this also is a chase after wind.

18 For in much wisdom there is much sorrow, and he who stores up knowledge stores up grief.

v 1,2. The writer of this book was a teacher-preacher, but also a son of David and king over Israel. Along with his great wisdom, he can be none other than Solomon. Some scholars refute that, but their arguments are very inconclusive. “Vanity”, as used here implies that everything is frustrating, meaningless and of no permanent value, as soap bubbles that soon vanish.

v 3-11. In addition to daily orbit, Solomon shows knowledge of the weather cycles and evaporation processes which go on continually. After asking the question if there is any profit to man down here on earth, v 2, he concludes that like nature, man is just running in a repetitive cycle which ends in weariness and lack of satisfaction.

v 12-18. Using his unsurpassed wisdom, Solomon investigated human activity and achievement, and concluded that wisdom was not too much greater than madness and folly. Neither satisfy, are fleeting, and similarly result in grief and sorrow.