Ecclesiastes 1:1-14
(ESV)
All Is Vanity
1 The words of the
Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3 What does man gain
by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes,
and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, and
the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to
the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All streams run to
the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things are
full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is
what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing
of which it is said,
"See, this is new"?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
11 There is no
remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after.
The Vanity of Wisdom
12 I the Preacher
have been king over
Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 (ESV)
The Vanity of Toil
18 I hated all my
toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who
will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be
master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is
vanity. 20 So I turned about
and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes
a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave
everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is
vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart
with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For all his days are full of sorrow, and
his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is
vanity.
24 There is nothing
better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his
toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him
who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has
given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business
of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is
vanity and a striving after wind.