Ecclesiastes 1
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1The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem: 1These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem. Everything Is Meaningless
2"Futile! Futile!" laments the Teacher, "Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!" 2“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
3What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth? 3What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
4A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth remains the same through the ages. 4Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
5The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again. 5The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
6The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north; round and round the wind goes and on its rounds it returns. 6The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.
7All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full, and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again. 7Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.
8All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing. 8Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
9What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. 9History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
10Is there anything about which someone can say, "Look at this! It is new!"? It was already done long ago, before our time. 10Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.
11No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations. 11We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now. The Teacher Speaks: The Futility of Wisdom
12I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 12I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem.
13I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth. I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied. 13I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.
14I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile--like chasing the wind! 14I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.
15What is bent cannot be straightened, and what is missing cannot be supplied. 15What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.
16I thought to myself, "I have become much wiser than any of my predecessors who ruled over Jerusalem; I have acquired much wisdom and knowledge." 16I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”
17So I decided to discern the benefit of wisdom and knowledge over foolish behavior and ideas; however, I concluded that even this endeavor is like trying to chase the wind! 17So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
18For with great wisdom comes great frustration; whoever increases his knowledge merely increases his heartache. 18The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.
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Proverbs 31
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