Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
Parallel translations
- WEB One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.
- KJV One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
- NKJV One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.
- NASB A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.
- NLT Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Generations pass away while the earth endures, highlighting human mortality against creation's permanence. It underscores how brief and passing each human life is.
Overview
Qoheleth observes the relentless turnover of human generations contrasted with the enduring earth. This reflects the curse of mortality introduced in Genesis 3 and the brevity of life. Set against this fading backdrop, the believer's hope rests not in earthly permanence but in the resurrection life secured by Christ, the firstfruits of a new creation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 104:5He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.
- Zech 1:5Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?
- Eccl 6:12For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Ps 119:90–91Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures.
- 2 Pet 3:10–13But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.
- Ps 89:47–48Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
- Ps 102:24–28I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.
- Gen 5:3–31When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth.
- Ps 90:9–10For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.
- Exod 6:16–27These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
- Gen 47:9“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”
- Gen 36:9–19This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the area of Mount Seir.
- Exod 1:6–7Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
- Gen 11:20–32When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug.
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 1:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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