Ecclesiastes 1:3-15

3 aWhat bdoes man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but cthe earth remains forever.
5 dThe sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens
Or  and returns panting
to the place where it rises.
6 fThe wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7All gstreams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
hthe eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 iWhat has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there a thing of which it is said,
See, this is new”?
It has been jalready
in the ages before us.
11There is no kremembrance of former things,
Or  former people

nor will there be any remembrance
of later things
Or  later people
yet to be
among those who come after.

The Vanity of Wisdom

12I nthe Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13And I oapplied my heart
The Hebrew term denotes the center of one’s inner life, including mind, will, and emotions
to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy qbusiness that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
14I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is rvanity
The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
and a striving after wind.
Or  a feeding on wind; compare Hosea 12:1 (also in Ecclesiastes 1:17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9)


15 uWhat is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.
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