The Futility of All Endeavors

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

2“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher.

“Vanity of vanities! All [that is done without God’s guidance] is vanity [futile, meaningless--a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes, merely chasing the wind].”

3What advantage does man have from all his work

Which he does [a]under the sun (while earthbound)?

4One generation goes and another generation comes,

But the earth remains forever.

5Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;

And hurries to the place where it rises again.

6The wind blows toward the south,

Then circles toward the north;

The wind circles and swirls endlessly,

And on its circular course the wind returns.

7All the rivers flow into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full.

To the place where the rivers flow,

There they flow again.

8All things are wearisome and all words are frail;

Man cannot express it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

9That which has been is that which will be [again],

And that which has been done is that which will be done again.

So there is nothing new under the sun.

10Is there anything of which it can be said,

“See this, it is new”?

It has already existed for [the vast] ages [of time recorded or unrecorded]

Which were before us.

11There is no remembrance of earlier things,

Nor also of the later things that are to come;

There will be for them no remembrance

By generations who will come after them.

The Futility of Wisdom

12I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13And I set my mind to seek and explore by [man’s] [b]wisdom all [human activity] that has been done under heaven. It is a miserable business and a burdensome task which [c]God has given the sons of men with which to be busy and distressed. 14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind. 15What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted.

16I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom and experience, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.” 17And I set my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I realized that this too is a futile grasping and chasing after the wind. 18For in much [human] wisdom there is much displeasure and exasperation; increasing knowledge increases sorrow.

[a] 3 Ecclesiastes expresses the view of the natural man whose interests are focused on vanishing pleasures and empty satisfactions. The natural man is not aware that all the answers to life are found in God. The natural man grovels in the earth and seeks and finds that which is futile and temporary while the spiritual man soars on wings of eagles (Is 40:31) and seeks and finds righteousness and God’s incomparable and everlasting blessings and companionship.
[b] 13 The “wisdom” of Proverbs is not the “wisdom” of Ecclesiastes. The former is godly wisdom; the latter is usually human wisdom.
[c] 13 Heb Elohim: mighty, creator, ruler of man and nature.