Ecc 1 | NASB2020 | STEP | The words of the Preacher , the son of David , king in Jerusalem .

Ecclesiastes 1

The Futility of All Endeavors

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

2 “ ^bFutility of futilities,” says the Preacher,
“Futility of futilities! All is futility.”

3 ^cWhat advantage does a person have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the ^dearth ^{▼▼Lit stands}remains forever.
5 Also, ^fthe sun rises and the sun sets;
And ^{▼▼Lit panting}hurrying to its place it rises there again.
6 ^{▼▼Lit Going
,} ⁱBlowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues ^{▼▼Lit turning}swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.
7 All the rivers ^{▼▼Lit go}flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers ^{▼▼Lit go}flow,
There they ^{▼▼Lit go}flow again.
8 All things are wearisome;
No one can tell it.
ⁿThe eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 ^oWhat has been, it is what will be,
And what has been done, it is what 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”?
It has already existed for ages
Which were before us.
11 There is ^pno remembrance of the ^{▼▼Lit first; or former}earlier things,
And of the later things as well, which will occur,
There will be no remembrance of them
Among those who will come later still.

The Futility of Wisdom

12 I, the ^rPreacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I ^sset my ^{▼▼Lit heart}mind to seek and ^uexplore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a ^{▼▼Lit evil
,} ^wsorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled. 14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is ^xfutility and striving after wind. 15 What is ^ycrooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I ^{▼▼Lit spoke with my heart, saying}said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased ^aawisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my ^{▼▼Lit heart}mind has observed ^{▼▼Lit an abundance}a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I ^adapplied my ^{▼▼Lit heart}mind to know wisdom and to ^afknow insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is ^agstriving after wind. 18 Because ^ahin much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.