Ecclesiastes:1-4

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* The words of the Preacher , the son of David , king in Jerusalem . * Vanity of vanities , saith the Preacher , vanity of vanities ; all [is ] vanity . * What profit does a man have of all his labour which he takes under the sun ? * [One ] generation passes away , and [another ] generation comes , but the earth abides for ever . * The sun arises , and the sun goes down , and with desire returns to his place from which he arises again . * The wind goes toward the south and turns about unto the north ; it whirls about continually , and the wind returns again according to its circuits . * All the rivers run into the sea ; yet the sea [is ] not full ; unto the place from whence the rivers come , there they return again . * All things [are ] full of labour ; more [than ] man can express ; the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing . * The thing that has been , it [is that ] which shall be ; and that which is done [is ] that which shall be done ; and [there is ] no new [thing ] under the sun . * Is there [any ] thing of which it may be said , See , this [is ] new ? it has been already of old time which was before us . * [There is ] no remembrance of former [things ]; neither shall there be [any ] remembrance of [things ] that are to come with [those ] that shall come after . * I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem . * And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all [things ] that are done under heaven (this sore travail God has given to the sons of man that they be occupied in it ). * I have seen all the works that are done under the sun ; and , behold , all [is ] vanity and vexation of spirit . * [That which is ] crooked cannot be made straight , and that which is lacking cannot be numbered . * I communed with my own heart , saying , Behold , I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all [those ] that have been before me in Jerusalem ; and my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge . * And I gave my heart to know wisdom and knowledge and to know folly and [those who are ] mad ; I learned [in the end ] that this also is vexation of spirit . * For in much wisdom [is ] much grief , and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow .: * I said in my heart , Come now , I will prove thee with mirth , therefore enjoy good things ; and , behold , this also [is ] vanity . * I said of laughter , [It is ] mad , and of mirth , What does it do ? * I proposed in my heart to regale my flesh with wine and that my heart would walk in wisdom ; and to lay hold on folly , until I might see what [was ] that good for the sons of men , which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life . * I made myself great works ; I built myself houses ; I planted myself vineyards ; * I made myself gardens and orchards , and I planted trees in them of all [kind of ] fruits ; * I made myself pools of water , to water with them the forest that brings forth trees ; * I got [myself ] servants and maidens and had sons born in my house ; also I had great possessions of cattle and sheep above all that were in Jerusalem before me ; * I gathered [unto ] myself also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces ; I obtained men singers and women singers and [all ] the delights of the sons of men , musical instruments , and those of all sorts . * So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem , and more than that , my wisdom remained with me . * And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them ; I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure ; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour , and this was my portion of all my labour . * At last I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do ; and , behold , all [was ] vanity and vexation of spirit , and [there was ] no profit under the sun . * And I turned myself to behold wisdom and those [who are ] mad , and folly ; for what [can ] the man [do ] that comes after the king ? [even ] that which has already been done . * And I have seen that wisdom excels folly as far as light excels darkness . * The wise man [has ] his eyes in his head , but the fool walks in darkness : And I myself also understood that one event happens to the one and to the other . * [Then ] I said in my heart , As it shall happen to the fool , so it shall happen even to me . Why have I worked until now to make myself wiser ? Then I said in my heart that this also [is ] vanity . * For [there is ] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever , seeing that which now [is ] in the days to come shall all be forgotten . And also the wise [man ] shall die the same as the fool . * [Therefore ] I hated life because [every ] work that is wrought under the sun [was ] grievous unto me ; for all [was ] vanity and vexation of spirit . * [Yea ], I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun , which I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me . * And who knows whether he shall be a wise [man ] or a fool , he who shall have rule over all my labour in which I have laboured and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun ? This [is ] also vanity . * Therefore my heart began to despair again regarding all the labour which I took under the sun . * That the man who worked with wisdom and with knowledge and with uprightness would have to leave his portion to a man that has not laboured therein . This also [is ] vanity and a great evil . * For what does man have of all his labour and of the vexation of his heart in which he has laboured under the sun ? * For all his days [are only ] sorrows , and his travail grief ; yea , his heart does not take rest in the night . This is also vanity . * [There is ] nothing better for a man [than ] that he should eat and drink and [that ] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour . I also have seen that this [is ] from the hand of God . * For who can eat , or who can care for himself better than I ? * For God gives to the man that [is ] good in [his ] sight wisdom and knowledge and joy , but to the sinner he gives travail , to gather and to heap up , that he may give to the one that is good before [God ]. This also [is ] vanity and vexation of spirit .: * For all things [there is ] a season , and every will under the heaven [has its ] time [determined ]. * A time to be born , and a time to die ; a time to plant , and a time to pluck up [that which is ] planted ; * a time to kill , and a time to heal ; a time to break down , and a time to build up ; * a time to weep , and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance ; * a time to cast away stones , and a time to gather stones together ; a time to embrace , and a time to refrain from embracing ; * a time to seek , and a time to lose ; a time to keep , and a time to cast away ; * a time to rend , and a time to sew ; a time to keep silence , and a time to speak ; * a time to love , and a time to hate ; a time of war , and a time of peace . * What profit does the one that works have in that in which he labours ? * I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of men that they may be occupied in it . * He has made every [thing ] beautiful in his time : even the world he has given over to their will , [in such a way ] that no man can attain to this work that God makes from the beginning to the end . * I have learned that [there is ] nothing better for them , but to rejoice and to do good in his life . * And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labour ; it [is ] the gift of God . * I have understood that whatever God does , it shall be for ever ; nothing can be added to it , nor any thing taken from it because God does [it ] that [men ] should fear before him . * That which has been is now , and that which is to be has already been and God shall seek that which is past . * And moreover I saw under the sun [that ] instead of judgment , there [was ] wickedness ; and instead of righteousness , [that ] iniquity [was ] there . * I said in my heart , God shall judge the righteous and the wicked ; for [there is ] a time determined [to judge ] every will and regarding everything that is done . * I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves [are ] beasts one to another . * For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts ; even one thing befalls them : as the one dies , so dies the other ; and they all have one breath ; so that a man has no more [breath ] than a beast : for all [is ] vanity . * All go unto one place ; all are of the dust , and all shall turn to dust again . * Who knows that the spirit of the sons of men goes upward and that the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth ? * Therefore I perceive that [there is ] nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works ; for that [is ] his portion ; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him ?: * So I returned and considered all the violence that is done under the sun and behold the tears of [such as are ] oppressed , and they have no comforter ; and on the side of their oppressors [there was ] power ; but the [oppressed ] had no comforter . * Therefore I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive . * And [I thought that ] better [is he ] than both of them who has not yet been who has not seen the evil works that are done under the sun . * Again , I considered all travail and every right work , that for this a man is envied of his neighbour . This [is ] also vanity and vexation of spirit . * The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh . * Better [is ] a handful [with ] rest than both the hands full [with ] travail and vexation of spirit . * Then I returned , and I saw [another ] vanity under the sun . * It is the [man ] who is alone , without a successor , who has neither son nor brother ; yet [is there ] no end of all his labour ; neither is his eye satisfied with riches ; neither [saith he ], For whom do I labour and bereave my soul of good ? This [is ] also vanity and sore travail . * Two [are ] better than one because they have a better reward for their labour . * For if they fall , the one will lift up his fellow ; but woe to him [that is ] alone when he falls , for [he has ] not another to help him up . * Again , if two sleep together , then they have heat , but how can one be warm [alone ]? * And if one prevails against him , two shall withstand him ; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken . * Better [is ] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished . * For he came out of prison to reign , even though he was born poor into his kingdom . * I saw all the living who are under the sun walking with the child , the successor that shall stand up in his stead . * [There is ] no end of all the people that have been before them ; those also that come after shall not be content in him . Surely this also [is ] vanity and vexation of spirit .: * Watch thy feet when thou goest to the house of God and draw near [with ] more [willingness ] to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools , for they do not know how to do what [God ] wants .

---