Limitless Word

Ecclesiastes 1

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📖 Ecclesiastes introduction

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1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. ✦ 2“Vanityof vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” ✦ 3What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun? ✦ 4One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. ✦ 5The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. ✦ 6The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. ✦ 7All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. ✦ 8All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing. ✦ 9That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. ✦ 10Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. ✦ 11There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after. ✦ 12I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ✦ 13And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. ✦ 14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. ✦ 15What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered. ✦ 16I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” ✦ 17And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. ✦ 18For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Where this chapter connects

Eccl 2 ·24Eccl 4 ·9Eccl 7 ·8Eccl 3 ·5Eccl 1 ·5Eccl 6 ·5Eccl 12 ·4Eccl 5 ·4

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

Ecclesiastes 2 →