| King James Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. | 1The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. |
| 2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. | 2"Utterly pointless," says the Teacher. "Absolutely pointless; everything is pointless." |
| 3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? | 3What does a man gain from all of the work that he undertakes on earth? |
| 4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. | 4A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. |
| 5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. | 5The sun rises, the sun sets, then rushes back to where it arose. |
| 6The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. | 6The wind blows southward, then northward, constantly circulating, and the wind comes back again in its courses. |
| 7All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. | 7All the rivers flow toward the sea, but the sea is never full; then rivers return to the headwaters where they began. |
| 8All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. | 8Everything is wearisome, more than man is able to express. The eye is never satisfied by seeing, nor the ear by hearing. |
| 9The 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. | 9Whatever has happened, will happen again; whatever has been done, will be done again. There is nothing new on earth. |
| 10Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. | 10Does anything exist about which someone might say, "Look at this! Is this new?" It happened ages ago; it existed before we did. |
| 11There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. | 11No one remembers those in the past, nor will they be remembered by those who come after them. |
| 12I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. | 12I, the Teacher, have been 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. | 13I dedicated myself to using wisdom for study and discovery of everything that is done under heaven. God uses terrible things so human beings will struggle with life. |
| 14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. | 14I observed every activity done on earth. My conclusion: all of it is pointless—like chasing after the wind. |
| 15That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. | 15What is crooked cannot be made straight; what is not there cannot be counted. |
| 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. | 16I told myself, "I have become greater and wiser than anyone who ruled before me in Jerusalem—yes, I have acquired a great deal 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. | 17So I dedicated myself to learn about wisdom and knowledge, and about insanity and foolishness. And I discovered that this is also like chasing after the wind. |
| 18For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. | 18For with much wisdom there is much sorrow; the more someone adds to knowledge, the more someone adds to grief. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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