| International Standard Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. | 1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. |
| 2"Utterly pointless," says the Teacher. "Absolutely pointless; everything is pointless." | 2"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." |
| 3What does a man gain from all of the work that he undertakes on earth? | 3What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? |
| 4A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. | 4A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. |
| 5The sun rises, the sun sets, then rushes back to where it arose. | 5Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again. |
| 6The wind blows southward, then northward, constantly circulating, and the wind comes back again in its courses. | 6Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. |
| 7All the rivers flow toward the sea, but the sea is never full; then rivers return to the headwaters where they began. | 7All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again. |
| 8Everything is wearisome, more than man is able to express. The eye is never satisfied by seeing, nor the ear by hearing. | 8All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. |
| 9Whatever has happened, will happen again; whatever has been done, will be done again. There is nothing new on earth. | 9That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. |
| 10Does anything exist about which someone might say, "Look at this! Is this new?" It happened ages ago; it existed before we did. | 10Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new "? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. |
| 11No one remembers those in the past, nor will they be remembered by those who come after them. | 11There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still. |
| 12I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. | 12I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. |
| 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. | 13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. |
| 14I observed every activity done on earth. My conclusion: all of it is pointless—like chasing after the wind. | 14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. |
| 15What is crooked cannot be made straight; what is not there cannot be counted. | 15What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. |
| 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." | 16I said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge." |
| 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. | 17And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. |
| 18For with much wisdom there is much sorrow; the more someone adds to knowledge, the more someone adds to grief. | 18Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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