Ecclesiastes 1 BSB ISV Parallel

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1These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

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

2“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

2"Utterly pointless," says the Teacher. "Absolutely pointless; everything is pointless."

3What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

3What does a man gain from all of the work that he undertakes on earth?

4Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

4A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

5The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.

5The sun rises, the sun sets, then rushes back to where it arose.

6The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.

6The wind blows southward, then northward, constantly circulating, and the wind comes back again in its courses.

7All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.

7All the rivers flow toward the sea, but the sea is never full; then rivers return to the headwaters where they began.

8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

8Everything is wearisome, more than man is able to express. The eye is never satisfied by seeing, nor the ear by hearing.

9What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

9Whatever has happened, will happen again; whatever has been done, will be done again. There is nothing new on earth.

10Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

10Does anything exist about which someone might say, "Look at this! Is this new?" It happened ages ago; it existed before we did.

11There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.

11No one remembers those in the past, nor will they be remembered by those who come after them.

12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

12I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

13I dedicated myself to using wisdom for study and discovery of everything that is done under heaven. God uses terrible things so human beings will struggle with life.

14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

14I observed every activity done on earth. My conclusion: all of it is pointless—like chasing after the wind.

15What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

15What is crooked cannot be made straight; what is not there cannot be counted.

16I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

16I told myself, "I have become greater and wiser than anyone who ruled before me in Jerusalem—yes, I have acquired a great deal of wisdom and knowledge."

17So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

17So I dedicated myself to learn about wisdom and knowledge, and about insanity and foolishness. And I discovered that this is also like chasing after the wind.

18For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

18For with much wisdom there is much sorrow; the more someone adds to knowledge, the more someone adds to grief.

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