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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Ecclesiastes 1 ESV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ecclesiastes/1.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ecclesiastes/1-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ESV</a> > Ecclesiastes 1</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../proverbs/31.htm" title="Proverbs 31">◄</a> Ecclesiastes 1 <a href="../ecclesiastes/2.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 2">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/ecclesiastes/1.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">All Is Vanity</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>The words of the Preacher,<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or Convener, or Collector; Hebrew Qoheleth (so throughout Ecclesiastes)">a</a></sup></span> the son of David, king in Jerusalem.</p> <span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Vanity<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="The Hebrew term hebel, translated vanity or vain, refers concretely to a mist, vapor, or mere breath, and metaphorically to something that is fleeting or elusive (with different nuances depending on the context). It appears five times in this verse and in 29 other verses in Ecclesiastes">b</a></sup></span> of vanities, says the Preacher,</span><br /><span class="indent">vanity of vanities! All is vanity.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">What does man gain by all the toil</span><br /><span class="indent">at which he toils under the sun?</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">A generation goes, and a generation comes,</span><br /><span class="indent">but the earth remains forever.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">The sun rises, and the sun goes down,</span><br /><span class="indent">and hastens<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or and returns panting">c</a></sup></span> to the place where it rises.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">The wind blows to the south</span><br /><span class="indent">and goes around to the north;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">around and around goes the wind,</span><br /><span class="indent">and on its circuits the wind returns.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">All streams run to the sea,</span><br /><span class="indent">but the sea is not full;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">to the place where the streams flow,</span><br /><span class="indent">there they flow again.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">All things are full of weariness;</span><br /><span class="indent">a man cannot utter it;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">the eye is not satisfied with seeing,</span><br /><span class="indent">nor the ear filled with hearing.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">What has been is what will be,</span><br /><span class="indent">and what has been done is what will be done,</span><br /><span class="indent">and there is nothing new under the sun.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Is there a thing of which it is said,</span><br /><span class="indent">“See, this is new”?</span><br /><span class="ln-group">It has been already</span><br /><span class="indent">in the ages before us.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">There is no remembrance of former things,<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or former people">d</a></sup></span></span><br /><span class="indent">nor will there be any remembrance</span><br /><span class="ln-group">of later things<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or later people">e</a></sup></span> yet to be</span><br /><span class="indent">among those who come after.</span></p> <p class="heading">The Vanity of Wisdom</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>And I applied my heart<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="The Hebrew term denotes the center of one's inner life, including mind, will, and emotions">f</a></sup></span> to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a vapor or mere breath (see note on 1:2)">g</a></sup></span> and a striving after wind.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or a feeding on wind; compare Hosea 12:1 (also in Ecclesiastes 1:17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9)">h</a></sup></span></p> <span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">What is crooked cannot be made straight,</span><br /><span class="indent">and what is lacking cannot be counted.</span></p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.</p> <span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/1-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">For in much wisdom is much vexation,</span><br /><span class="indent">and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.</span></p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">1</span> Or <i>Convener</i>, or <i>Collector</i>; Hebrew <i language="Hebrew">Qoheleth</i> (so throughout Ecclesiastes)<br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">2</span> The Hebrew term <i language="Hebrew">hebel</i>, translated <i>vanity</i> or <i>vain</i>, refers concretely to a "mist," "vapor," or "mere breath," and metaphorically to something that is fleeting or elusive (with different nuances depending on the context). It appears five times in this verse and in 29 other verses in Ecclesiastes<br /><span class="footnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">5</span> Or <i><span class="catch-word">and</span> returns panting</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> Or <i><span class="catch-word">former</span> people</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> Or <i><span class="catch-word">later</span> people</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">f</span> <span class="fnverse">13</span> The Hebrew term denotes the center of one's inner life, including mind, will, and emotions<br /><span class="footnotesbot">g</span> <span class="fnverse">14</span> The Hebrew term <i language="Hebrew">hebel</i> can refer to a "vapor" or "mere breath" (see note on 1:2)<br /><span class="footnotesbot">h</span> <span class="fnverse">14</span> Or <i><span class="catch-word">a</span> feeding on wind</i>; compare Hosea 12:1 (also in Ecclesiastes 1:17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9)<br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 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