Thematic Bible
Ecclesiastes 1:1 (show verse)
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 (show verse)
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher.
“Vanity of vanities! All [that is done without God’s guidance] is vanity [futile, meaningless—a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes, merely chasing the wind].”
Ecclesiastes 1:3 (show verse)
What advantage does man have from all his work
Which he does
Ecclesiastes 1:4 (show verse)
One generation goes and another generation comes,
But the earth remains forever.
Ecclesiastes 1:5 (show verse)
Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hurries to the place where it rises again.
Ecclesiastes 1:6 (show verse)
The wind blows toward the south,
Then circles toward the north;
The wind circles and swirls endlessly,
And on its circular course the wind returns.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 (show verse)
All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.
Ecclesiastes 1:8 (show verse)
All things are wearisome and all words are frail;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 (show verse)
That which has been is that which will be [again],
And that which has been done is that which will be done again.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
No Themes for this verse.
Ecclesiastes 1:10 (show verse)
Is there anything of which it can be said,
“See this, it is new”?
It has already existed for [the vast] ages [of time recorded or unrecorded]
Which were before us.
No Themes for this verse.
Ecclesiastes 1:11 (show verse)
There is no remembrance of earlier things,
Nor also of the later things that are to come;
There will be for them no remembrance
By generations who will come after them.
No Themes for this verse.
Ecclesiastes 1:12 (show verse)
I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:13 (show verse)
And I set my mind to seek and explore by [man’s] wisdom all [human activity] that has been done under heaven. It is a miserable business and a burdensome task which God has given the sons of men with which to be busy and distressed.
Ecclesiastes 1:14 (show verse)
I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:15 (show verse)
What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted.
Ecclesiastes 1:16 (show verse)
I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom and experience, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.”
Ecclesiastes 1:17 (show verse)
And I set my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I realized that this too is a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 (show verse)
For in much [human] wisdom there is much displeasure and exasperation; increasing knowledge increases sorrow.