Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1:
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Verses from Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 of the book of Ecclesiastes of the Bible.
Everything is illusion
- 1. The words of the wise man, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
- 2. “What immense futility!” says the wise man. “What immense futility! Everything is vain and meaningless!”
- 3. What gain does a man have from all the effort he makes under the sun?
- 4. Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
- 5. The sun rises and the sun sets, rushing to the place from which it rises.
- 6. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; spinning in circles and always following its course.
- 7. All rivers flow into the sea, but the sea is never full; Even though the rivers continue to flow, they return to where they came from.
- 8. All things are laborious; man cannot express them in words. The eyes are never satisfied with what they see, nor are the ears satisfied with what they hear.
- 9. What was, that will be; what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
- 10. Is there anything about which one can say, “See, this is new!”? No! This already existed in past centuries, long before us.
- 11. No one remembers the past generations, and those who come after will not be remembered by those who are yet to come.
- 12. I, the wise one, was king of Israel in Jerusalem.
- 13. I have devoted myself to examining and investigating with wisdom everything that is done under the heavens. What an arduous task God has given to the children of men!
- 14. I have observed every work under the sun, and everything is vanity, it is like chasing the wind!
- 15. What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is missing cannot be counted.
- 16. I thought to myself, “I have gained more wisdom than all those before me in Jerusalem; I have great experience and knowledge.”
- 17. Then I dedicated myself to understanding wisdom, madness and foolishness, but I realized that this too is chasing the wind.
- 18. For the greater the wisdom, the greater the sorrow; and the more knowledge you have, the more suffering increases.