| New King James Version | 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. |
| 2“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” | 2"Utterly pointless," says the Teacher. "Absolutely pointless; everything is pointless." |
| 3What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun? | 3What does a man gain from all of the work that he undertakes on earth? |
| 4One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. | 4A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. |
| 5The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. | 5The sun rises, the sun sets, then rushes back to 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. | 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; To the place from which the rivers come, There 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 labor; Man cannot express 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. |
| 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. | 9Whatever has happened, will happen again; whatever has been done, will be done again. There is nothing new on earth. |
| 10Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times 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, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will 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 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. | 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 indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. | 14I observed every activity done on earth. My conclusion: all of it is pointless—like chasing after the wind. |
| 15What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered. | 15What is crooked cannot be made straight; what is not there cannot be counted. |
| 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.” | 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 set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. | 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 who increases knowledge increases sorrow. | 18For with much wisdom there is much sorrow; the more someone adds to knowledge, the more someone adds to grief. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
|
