The Futility of All Endeavor
The words of the aPreacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “aVanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
3 aWhat advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the aearth remains forever.
5 Also, athe sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.
6 aBlowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.
7 All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.
8 All things are wearisome;
Man is not able to tell it.
aThe eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 aThat 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.
10 Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new”?
Already it has existed for ages
Which were before us.
11 There is ano remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still.
The Futility of Wisdom
12 I, the aPreacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I aset my mind to seek and bexplore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous ctask which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. 14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is avanity and striving after wind. 15 What is acrooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased awisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I aset my mind to know wisdom and to bknow madness and folly; I realized that this also is cstriving after wind. 18 Because ain much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.
The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with apleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. 2 aI said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” 3 I explored with my mind how to astimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of bfolly, until I could see cwhat good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. 4 I enlarged my works: I abuilt houses for myself, I planted bvineyards for myself; 5 I made agardens and bparks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; 6 I made aponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and I had ahomeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and bherds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. 8 Also, I collected for myself silver and agold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself bmale and female singers and the pleasures of men—many concubines.
9 Then I became agreat and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. 10 aAll that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my breward for all my labor. 11 Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was avanity and striving after wind and there was bno profit under the sun.
Wisdom Excels Folly
12 So I turned to aconsider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except bwhat has already been done? 13 And I saw that awisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the afool walks in darkness. And yet I know that bone fate befalls them both. 15 Then I said to myself, “aAs is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. bWhy then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” 16 For there is ano lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And bhow the wise man and the fool alike die! 17 So I ahated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
The Futility of Labor
18 Thus I hated aall the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must bleave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or aa fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is bvanity. 20 Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21 When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and askill, then he bgives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what does a man get in aall his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 Because all his days his task is painful and agrievous; even at night his mind bdoes not rest. This too is vanity.
24 There is anothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is bfrom the hand of God. 25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? 26 For to a person who is good in His sight aHe has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may bgive to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is cvanity and striving after wind.
A Time for Everything
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a atime for every event under heaven—
2 A time to give birth and a atime to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3 A atime to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to aweep and a time to blaugh;
A time to mourn and a time to cdance.
5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to abe silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to ahate;
A time for war and a time for peace.
9 aWhat profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? 10 I have seen the atask which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man
11 He has amade everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man bwill not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
12 I know that there is anothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the agift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should afear Him. 15 That awhich is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.
16 Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is awickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. 17 I said to myself, “aGod will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a btime for every matter and for every deed is there. 18 I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but abeasts.” 19 aFor the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the adust and all return to the dust. 21 Who knows that the abreath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that anothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see bwhat will occur after him? New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
For Permission to Quote information visit
lockman.org by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved.