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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"><link rel="canonical" href="https://bibleapps.com/bsb/ecclesiastes/1.htm"><title>Ecclesiastes 1 BSB</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../bible.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"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="112" scrolling="no" src="../top.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="54" scrolling="no" src="../../nav1/ecclesiastes/1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="54" scrolling="no" src="../../nav2/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><div id="movebox2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="../../menu.htm" width="100%" height="50" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><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="100%" valign="top">Berean Study Bible</tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Everything Is Futile<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>These are the words of the Teacher,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> the son of David, king in Jerusalem: <A name="3"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>“Futility<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">b</a></span> of futilities,” <p class="indent2"> says the Teacher, <p class="indent1">“futility of futilities! <p class="indent2"> Everything is futile!” <A name="4"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>What does a man gain from all his labor, <p class="indent2"> at which he toils under the sun? <A name="5"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Generations come and generations go, <p class="indent2"> but the earth remains forever. <A name="6"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>The sun rises and the sun sets; <p class="indent2"> it hurries back to where it rises. <A name="7"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>The wind blows southward, <p class="indent2"> then turns northward; <p class="indent1"> round and round it swirls, <p class="indent2"> ever returning on its course. <A name="8"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>All the rivers flow into the sea, <p class="indent2"> yet the sea is never full; <p class="indent1"> to the place from which the streams come, <p class="indent2"> there again they flow. <A name="9"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>All things are wearisome, <p class="indent2"> more than one can describe; <p class="indent1"> the eye is not satisfied with seeing, <p class="indent2"> nor the ear content with hearing. <A name="10"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>What has been will be again, <p class="indent2"> and what has been done will be done again; <p class="indent2"> there is nothing new under the sun. <A name="11"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Is there a case where one can say, <p class="indent2">“Look, this is new”? <p class="indent1"> It has already existed <p class="indent2"> in the ages before us. <A name="12"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>There is no remembrance <p class="indent2"> of those who came before, <p class="indent1"> and those yet to come will not be remembered <p class="indent2"> by those who follow after. <A name="13"></a><p class="hdg">With Wisdom Comes Sorrow<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. <A name="14"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them! <A name="15"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind. <A name="16"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>What is crooked cannot be straightened, <p class="indent2"> and what is lacking cannot be counted. <A name="17"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” <A name="18"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind. <p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="../../par/ecclesiastes/1-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, <p class="indent2"> and as knowledge grows, grief increases.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">1</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Or <i>the Convener</i><span class="thin"> </span> or <i>the Preacher</i><span class="thin"> </span> or <i>the leader of the assembly</i><span class="thin"> </span>; Hebrew <i>Qoheleth</i><span class="thin"> </span> is rendered as <i>the Teacher</i><span class="thin"> </span> throughout Ecclesiastes.<br><span class="fnverse">2</span> <span class="footnotesbot">b</span> Literally <i>vapor</i><span class="thin"> </span> or <i>breath</i><span class="thin"> </span>; the Hebrew words translated in Ecclesiastes as forms of <i>futile</i><span class="thin"> </span> or <i>fleeting</i><span class="thin"> </span> can also be translated as <i>vanity</i><span class="thin"> </span> or <i>meaningless</i><span class="thin"> </span>.<br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href="https://berean.bible">www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href="https://bereanbible.com">Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href="https://biblehub.com">Bible Hub</a> and <a href="https://berean.bible">Berean.Bible</a>. 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