THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES
King James Version
1 ¶ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in
Jerusalem.
2
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of
vanities; all is vanity.
3
What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4 ¶ One generation passeth
away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth
for ever.
5
The sun also ariseth, and the
sun goeth down, and hasteth
to his place where he arose.
6
The wind goeth toward the south,
and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again
according to his circuits.
7
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full;
unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
8
All things are full of labour;
man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled
with hearing.
9 ¶ The 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.
10
Is there any thing whereof it
may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was
before us.
11
There is no remembrance of former things;
neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those
that shall come after.
12 ¶ I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13
And 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.
14
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun;
and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
15
That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that
which is wanting cannot be numbered.
16
I 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.
17
And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness
and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
18
For in much wisdom is much grief: and he
that increaseth knowledge increaseth
sorrow.
1 ¶ I said in mine heart, Go to
now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this
also is vanity.
2
I said of laughter, It is mad:
and of mirth, What doeth it?
3
I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet
acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see
what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven
all the days of their life.
4
I made me great works; I builded
me houses; I planted me vineyards:
5
I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted
trees in them of all kind of fruits:
6
I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that
bringeth forth trees:
7
I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my
house; also I had great possessions of great and small
cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
8
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the
peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat
me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as
musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
9
So I was great, and increased more than all that were
before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with
me.
10
And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept
not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy;
for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was
my portion of all my labour.
11
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought,
and on the labour that I had laboured
to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no
profit under the sun.
12 ¶ And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness,
and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which
hath been already done.
13
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth
folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
14
The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh
in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
15
Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth
even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said
in my heart, that this also is vanity.
16
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the
fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be
forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
17 ¶ Therefore I hated life; because the work that is
wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of
spirit.
18
Yea, I hated all my labour which
I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be
after me.
19
And who knoweth whether he shall
be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured,
and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
20
Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all
the labour which I took under the sun.
21
For there is a man whose labour
is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man
that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for
his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22
For what hath man of all his labour,
and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured
under the sun?
23
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail
grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
24
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat
and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
25
For who can eat, or who else can hasten
hereunto, more than I?
26
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom,
and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to
heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity
and vexation of spirit.
1 ¶ To every thing there is a
season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and
a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down,
and a time to build up;
4
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and
a time to dance;
5
A time to cast away stones, and a time to
gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
embracing;
6
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a
time to cast away;
7
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence,
and a time to speak;
8
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a
time of peace.
9
What profit hath he that worketh in that
wherein he laboureth?
10
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons
of men to be exercised in it.
11 ¶ He hath made every thing
beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in
their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the
beginning to the end.
12
I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to
rejoice, and to do good in his life.
13
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy
the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
14
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall
be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing
taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
15
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath
already been; and God requireth that which is past.
16 ¶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of
judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
17
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and
the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
18
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of
men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves
are beasts.
19
For that which befalleth the
sons of men befalleth beasts; even
one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea,
they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for
all is vanity.
20
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn
to dust again.
21
Who knoweth the spirit of man
that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
22
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than
that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who
shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
1 ¶ So I returned, and considered all the oppressions
that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed,
and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power;
but they had no comforter.
2
Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more
than the living which are yet alive.
3
Yea, better is he than both
they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work
that is done under the sun.
4 ¶ Again, I considered all travail, and every right
work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour.
This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
5
The fool foldeth his hands
together, and eateth his own flesh.
6
Better is an handful with
quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation
of spirit.
7 ¶ Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
8
There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he
hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither
saith he, For whom do I labour,
and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a
sore travail.
9
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward
for their labour.
10
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe
to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
11
Again, if two lie together, then they have
heat: but how can one be warm alone?
12
And if one prevail against him,
two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13 ¶ Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and
foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
14
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas
also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
15
I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with
the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
16
There is no end of all the people, even of all that have
been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
1 ¶ Keep thy foot when thou goest
to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of
fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
2
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine
heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God
is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy
words be few.
3
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and
a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
4 ¶ When thou vowest a vow unto
God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools:
pay that which thou hast vowed.
5
Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou
shouldest vow and not pay.
6
Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither
say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry
at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
7
For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are
also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
8
If thou seest the oppression of
the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel
not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth;
and there be higher than they.
9 ¶ Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king
himself is served by the field.
10
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver;
nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
11
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and
what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding
of them with their eyes?
12
The sleep of a labouring man is
sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not
suffer him to sleep.
13
There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun,
namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
14
But those riches perish by evil travail: and
he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
15
As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he
return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour,
which he may carry away in his hand.
16
And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he
came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured
for the wind?
17
All his days also he eateth in
darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
18 ¶ Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely
for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his
life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.
19
Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth,
and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to
rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
20
For he shall not much remember the days of his life;
because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
1 ¶ There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and
it is common among men:
2
A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth
nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God
giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth
it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3
If a man beget an
hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many,
and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have
no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
4
For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth
in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
5
Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.
6
Yea, though he live a thousand
years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
7 ¶ All the labour of man is
for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8
For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the
poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
9
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the
desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
10
That which hath been is named already,
and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is
mightier than he.
11 ¶ Seeing there be many things that increase vanity,
what is man the better?
12
For who knoweth what is good for
man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth
as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?