Everything Is Futile 1 UDB These are the words and sayings of the descendant of King David, who is king in Jerusalem. The people call me 'The Teacher.' BSB BSB: These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 UDB The Teacher says, "Nothing is permanent. It is all like the morning mist or the wind; It goes and comes, but for what reason? BSB BSB: “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
3 UDB What do people gain from all the work that they do here on the earth?" BSB BSB: What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
4 UDB Each year old people die and babies are born, but the earth never changes. BSB BSB: Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
6 UDB The wind blows south, and then it turns around to start blowing to the north. It goes around and around in circles. BSB BSB: The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
7 UDB All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is never full. The water returns under the earth and comes up again into the rivers; then it flows to the sea again. BSB BSB: All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.
8 UDB Everything is so unsatisfactory that we do not even want to talk about it. We see the same things, and we become bored with them. We hear the same things, but we want to hear something more. BSB BSB: All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
9 UDB Everything continues to be the same as it has always been. Things that happen have happened previously, and they will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing really new in this world. BSB BSB: What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 UDB Sometimes people say, "Look at this! This is something new!" But it has existed previously. It existed before we were born. BSB BSB: Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.
11 UDB People do not remember the things that happened long ago, and in the future, people will not remember what we are doing now. BSB BSB: There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
With Wisdom Comes Sorrow 12 UDB I, the Teacher, have been the king of Israel for many years, ruling in Jerusalem. BSB BSB: I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 UDB By using my wisdom, I concentrated on understanding everything that was being done on the earth. It is a task that wears me out, just like anyone else who tries it. BSB BSB: And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a miserable task God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
14 UDB It seems that nothing that happens on the earth really enables us to do anything useful. It is like trying to control the wind. BSB BSB: I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
15 UDB Many things that are crooked cannot be caused to become straight. We cannot count things that we cannot see. BSB BSB: What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 UDB I said to myself, "I am wiser than any of those who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I am wiser and know more than any of them!" BSB BSB: I 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.”
17 UDB So I determined to learn more about being wise, and also to learn about doing things that are very stupid and foolish. But I found out that trying to understand those things was also useless, like trying to control the wind. BSB BSB: So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
18 UDB Anyone who becomes very wise also becomes very frustrated. The more one knows, the sadder he becomes. BSB BSB: For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.