Ecclesiastes 1:2

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 1:3

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 1:4

A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

Ecclesiastes 1:5

The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.

Ecclesiastes 1:6

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.

Ecclesiastes 1:7

All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

Ecclesiastes 1:8

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

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.

Ecclesiastes 1:10

Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.

Ecclesiastes 1:12

I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

Ecclesiastes 1:13

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

Ecclesiastes 1:14

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:3

I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

Ecclesiastes 2:6

I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

Ecclesiastes 2:8

I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:12

So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.

Ecclesiastes 2:15

Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 2:16

For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!

Ecclesiastes 2:17

So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:18

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,

Ecclesiastes 2:19

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.

Ecclesiastes 2:20

So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,

Ecclesiastes 2:22

What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?

Ecclesiastes 2:23

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.

Ecclesiastes 2:24

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,

Ecclesiastes 2:26

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.

Ecclesiastes 3:9

What gain has the worker from his toil?

Ecclesiastes 3:10

I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Ecclesiastes 3:16

Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.

Ecclesiastes 3:17

I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.

Ecclesiastes 3:18

I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 3:20

All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

Ecclesiastes 3:21

Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?

Ecclesiastes 4:1

Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.

Ecclesiastes 4:2

And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.

Ecclesiastes 4:3

But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 4:5

The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.

Ecclesiastes 4:7

Again, I saw vanity under the sun:

Ecclesiastes 4:14

For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor.

Ecclesiastes 4:15

I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king's place.

Ecclesiastes 4:16

There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 5:1

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

Ecclesiastes 5:6

Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

Ecclesiastes 5:7

For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.

Ecclesiastes 5:8

If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

Ecclesiastes 5:12

Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.