Prologue
Motto Introduced
All Toil Is Profitless And Repetitious
Things Never Change
6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north; round and round the wind goes and on its rounds it returns.
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.
6 (f)(F)Blowing toward the south,Then turning toward the north,The wind continues (g)swirling along;And on its circular courses the wind returns.
6 Gusting to the south,turning to the north,turning, turning, goes the wind,(G)and the wind returns in its cycles.
6 The wind blows southward, then northward, constantly circulating, and the wind comes back again in its courses.
7 All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full, and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again.
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.
7 All the rivers (h)flow into the sea,Yet the sea is not full.To the place where the rivers (i)flow,There they (j)flow again.
7 All the streams flow to the sea,yet the sea is never full.The streams are flowing to the place,and they flow there again.
7 All the rivers flow toward the sea, but the sea is never full; then rivers return to the headwaters where they began.
8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.
8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
8 All things are wearisome;Man is not able to tell it.(G)The eye is not satisfied with seeing,Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
8 All things(b) are wearisome;man is unable to speak.The eye is not satisfied by seeing(H)or the ear filled with hearing.
8 Everything is wearisome, more than man is able to express. The eye is never satisfied by seeing, nor the ear by hearing.
9 What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.
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.
9 (H)That which has been is that which will be,And that which has been done is that which will be done.So there is nothing new under the sun.
9 What has been is what will be,and what has been done is what will be done;there is nothing new under the sun.
9 Whatever has happened, will happen again; whatever has been done, will be done again. There is nothing new on earth.
10 Is there anything about which someone can say, "Look at this! It is new!"? It was already done long ago, before our time.
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.
10 Is there anything of which one might say,“See this, it is new”?Already it has existed for agesWhich were before us.
10 Can one say about anything,“Look, this is new”?It has already existed in the ages before us.
10 Does anything exist about which someone might say, "Look at this! Is this new?" It happened ages ago; it existed before we did.
11 No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.
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.
11 There is (I)no remembrance of (k)earlier things;And also of the (l)later things which will occur,There will be for them no remembranceAmong those who will come (m)later still.
11 There is no remembrance of those who(c) came before;(I)and of those who(d) will come afterthere will also be no remembranceby those who follow them.
11 No one remembers those in the past, nor will they be remembered by those who come after them.
Qohelet Introduces His Quest
13 I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth. I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied.
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.
13 And I (K)set my (n)mind to seek and (L)explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is (o)a grievous (M)task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
13 I applied my mind to seek(K) and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven.(L) God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.(M)
13 I dedicated myself to using wisdom for study and discovery of everything that is done under heaven. God uses terrible things so human beings will struggle with life.
The Spokesman's General Conclusion
14 I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile -- like chasing the wind!
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is (p)(N)vanity and striving after wind.
14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.(f)(N)
14 I observed every activity done on earth. My conclusion: all of it is pointless like chasing after the wind.
The Spokesman Begins To Study Life
16 I thought to myself, "I have become much wiser than any of my predecessors who ruled over Jerusalem; I have acquired much wisdom and knowledge."
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.
16 I (q)said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased (P)wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my (r)mind has observed (s)a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”
16 I said to myself,(g) “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me,(P) and my mind has thoroughly grasped(h) wisdom and knowledge.”
16 I told myself, "I have become greater and wiser than anyone who ruled before me in Jerusalem yes, I have acquired a great deal of wisdom and knowledge."
17 So I decided to discern the benefit of wisdom and knowledge over foolish behavior and ideas; however, I concluded that even this endeavor is like trying to chase the wind!
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
17 And I (Q)set my (t)mind to know wisdom and to (R)know madness and folly; I realized that this also is (S)striving after wind.
17 I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge,(Q) madness and folly;(R) I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.(i)(S)
17 So I dedicated myself to learn about wisdom and knowledge, and about insanity and foolishness. And I discovered that this is also like chasing after the wind.
18 For with great wisdom comes great frustration; whoever increases his knowledge merely increases his heartache.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
18 Because (T)in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.
18 For with much wisdom there is much sorrow; the more someone adds to knowledge, the more someone adds to grief.