Ecclesiastes Chapter 1

6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.

7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

8 All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter

9 it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

10 That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

11 Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been long ago, in the ages which were before us.

12 There is no remembrance of the former

13 generations; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter

14 generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.

15 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

16 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

17 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

18 That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

darby (darby) - eBible.org Darby 1890 plaintext

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities! all is vanity.

3 What profit hath man of all his labour wherewith he laboureth under the sun?

4 [One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh, but the earth standeth for ever.

5 The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth.

6 The wind goeth towards the south, and turneth about towards the north: it turneth about continually, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.

7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

8 All things are full of toil; none can express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which will be done: and there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already in the ages which were before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be remembrance of things that are to come with those who shall live afterwards.

12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I applied my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: this grievous occupation hathGod given to the children of men to weary themselves therewith.

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and pursuit of the wind.

15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have become great and have acquired wisdom more than all they that have been before me over Jerusalem; and my heart hath seen much of wisdom and knowledge.

17 And I applied my heart to the knowledge of wisdom, and to the knowledge of madness and folly: I perceived that this also is a striving after the wind.

18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Israel in Jerusalem.

2 Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

3 What advantage [is there] to a man in all his labour that he takes under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes: but the earth stands for ever.

5 And the sun arises, and the sun goes down and draws toward its place;

6 arising there it proceeds southward, and goes round toward the north. The wind goes round and round, and the wind returns to its circuits.

7 All the rivers run into the sea; and yet the sea is not filled: to the place whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

8 All things are full of labour; a man will not be able to speak [of them]: neither shall the eye be satisfied with seeing, neither shall the ear be filled with hearing.

9 What is that which has been? the very thing which shall be: and what is that which has been done? the very thing which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

10 [Who is he] that shall speak and say, Behold, this is new? it has already been in the ages that have passed before us.

11 There is no memorial to the first things; neither to the things that have been last shall their memorial be with them that shall be at the last [time].

12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I applied my heart to seek out and examine by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven, for God has given to the sons of men an evil trouble to be troubled therewith.

14 I beheld all the works that were wrought under the sun; and, behold, all were vanity and waywardness of spirit.

15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and deficiency cannot be numbered.

16 I spoke in my heart, saying, Behold, I am increased, and have acquired wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem: also I applied my heart to know wisdom and knowledge.

17 And my heart knew much—wisdom, and knowledge, parables and understanding: I perceived that this also is waywardness of spirit.

18 For in the abundance of wisdom is abundance of knowledge; and he that increases knowledge will increase sorrow.

vul1914 (vul1914) - Vulgate 1914 UTF-8 (sacredbible.org)

1 Verba Ecclesiastæ, filii David, regis Ierusalem.

2 Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes: vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.

3 Quid habet amplius homo de universo labore suo, quo laborat sub sole?

4 Generatio præterit, et generatio advenit: terra autem in æternum stat.

5 Oritur sol, et occidit, et ad locum suum revertitur: ibique renascens,

6 gyrat per Meridiem, et flectitur ad Aquilonem: lustrans universa in circuitu pergit spiritus, et in circulos suos revertitur.

7 Omnia flumina intrant in mare, et mare non redundat: ad locum, unde exeunt flumina, revertuntur ut iterum fluant.

8 Cunctæ res difficiles: non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur.

9 Quid est quod fuit? ipsum quod futurum est. Quid est quod factum est? ipsum quod faciendum est.

10 Nihil sub sole novum, nec valet quisquam dicere: Ecce hoc recens est: iam enim præcessit in sæculis, quæ fuerunt ante nos.

11 Non est priorum memoria: sed nec eorum quidem, quæ postea futura sunt, erit recordatio apud eos, qui futuri sunt in novissimo.

12 Ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israel in Ierusalem,

13 et proposui in animo meo quærere et investigare sapienter de omnibus, quæ fiunt sub sole. Hanc occupationem pessimam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea.

14 Vidi cuncta, quæ fiunt sub sole, et ecce universa vanitas, et afflictio spiritus.

15 Perversi difficile corriguntur, et stultorum infinitus est numerus.

16 Locutus sum in corde meo, dicens: Ecce magnus effectus sum, et præcessi omnes sapientia, qui fuerunt ante me in Ierusalem: et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter, et didici.

17 Dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam, atque doctrinam, erroresque et stultitiam: et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor, et afflictio spiritus,

18 eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio: et qui addit scientiam, addit et laborem.

web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV

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 from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?

4 One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises.

6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses.

7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.

8 All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 That which has been is that which shall be, and that which has been done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.

10 Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new”? It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.

11 There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.

12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

15 That which is crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

17 I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.

18 For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

ylt (ylt) - Bible.com YLT98 plain UTF-8

1 Words of a preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, Vanity of vanities: the whole <FI>is<Fi> vanity.

3 What advantage <FI>is<Fi> to man by all his labour that he laboureth at under the sun?

4 A generation is going, and a generation is coming, and the earth to the age is standing.

5 Also, the sun hath risen, and the sun hath gone in, and unto its place panting it is rising there.

6 Going unto the south, and turning round unto the north, turning round, turning round, the wind is going, and by its circuits the wind hath returned.

7 All the streams are going unto the sea, and the sea is not full; unto a place whither the streams are going, thither they are turning back to go.

8 All these things are wearying; a man is not able to speak, the eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor filled is the ear from hearing.

9 What <FI>is<Fi> that which hath been? it <FI>is<Fi> that which is, and what <FI>is<Fi> that which hath been done? it <FI>is<Fi> that which is done, and there is not an entirely new thing under the sun.

10 There is a thing of which <FI>one<Fi> saith: `See this, it <FI>is<Fi> new!' already it hath been in the ages that were before us!

11 There is not a remembrance of former <FI>generations<Fi> ; and also of the latter that are, there is no remembrance of them with those that are at the last.

12 I, a preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that hath been done under the heavens. It <FI>is<Fi> a sad travail God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.

14 I have seen all the works that have been done under the sun, and lo, the whole <FI>is<Fi> vanity and vexation of spirit!

15 A crooked thing <FI>one<Fi> is not able to make straight, and a lacking thing is not able to be numbered.

16 I--I spake with my heart, saying, `I, lo, I have magnified and added wisdom above every one who hath been before me at Jerusalem, and my heart hath seen abundantly wisdom and knowledge.

17 And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this <FI>is<Fi> vexation of spirit;

18 for, in abundance of wisdom <FI>is<Fi> abundance of sadness, and he who addeth knowledge addeth pain.'

Explanations by Age Level

Explain Like I'm 5

A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!

Explain Like I'm 10

Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.

Explain Like I'm 15

Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).