1. All Is Vanity

ch1 ¹The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. ² Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all [is] vanity.

³ What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? ⁴ One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. ⁵ The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. ⁶ The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. ⁷ All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

⁸ All things [are] full of labour; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹ The thing that hath 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. ¹⁰Is there [any] thing whereof it may be said, See, this [is] new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. ¹¹[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.

2. With Much Wisdom Comes Much Sorrow

¹²I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all [things] that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. ¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit. ¹⁵[That which is] crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. ¹⁶I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all [they] that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. ¹⁷And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. ¹⁸For in much wisdom [is] much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

3. Even Pleasure Is Vanity

ch2 ¹I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is] vanity. ² I said of laughter, [It is] mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

³ I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till 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. ⁴ I made me great works;

I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: ⁵ I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all [kind of] fruits: ⁶ I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: ⁷ I got [me] servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: ⁸ I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, [as] musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

⁹ So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. ¹⁰And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. ¹¹Then 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.

4. The Toil of the Wise and Foolish Is Vanity

¹²And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been already done. ¹³Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. ¹⁴The wise man's eyes [are] in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. ¹⁵Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also [is] vanity. ¹⁶For [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 how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool. ¹⁷Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous unto me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

¹⁸Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. ¹⁹And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also vanity.

²⁰Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. ²¹For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity and a great evil. ²²For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? ²³For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

²⁴[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. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God. ²⁵For who can eat, or who else can hasten [hereunto], more than I? ²⁶For [God] giveth to a man that [is] good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to [him that is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.