Sermon Central
Ecclesiastes 1-12
Everything Is Meaningless
1The words of the Teacher,
2“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
3What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
4Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
6The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
7All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
8All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
11No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.
Wisdom Is Meaningless 12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!
14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. 16I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
17Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. 18For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
Pleasures Are Meaningless 1I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2“Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”
3I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
4I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
5I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
7I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
8I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem
9I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.
11Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless 12Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done?
13I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.
14The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.
15Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.”
16For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!
Toil Is Meaningless 17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
23All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. 24A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
A Time for Everything 1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9What do workers gain from their toil?
10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.
11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet
14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
15Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
16And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”
18I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.
19Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath
21Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” 22So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness 1Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed— and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors— and they have no comforter.
2And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive.
3But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
4And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
5Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves.
6Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
7Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
8There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless— a miserable business!
9Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
10If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
11Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
12Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Advancement Is Meaningless 13Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. 14The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 15I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. 16There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Fulfill Your Vow to God
1
2Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
3A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool. 4When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?
7Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.
Riches Are Meaningless 8If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still.
9The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
11As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
12The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.
13I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.
15Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.
16This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?
17All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger. 18This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
1I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind:
2God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil. 3A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—
6even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
7Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied.
8What advantage have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
9Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
10Whatever exists has already been named, and what humanity is has been known; no one can contend with someone who is stronger.
11The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone? 12For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
Wisdom 1A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.
3Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools.
6Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.
7Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.
11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.
12Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.
13Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?
14When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.
15In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
16Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself?
17Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time?
18It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.
19Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful than ten rulers in a city.
20Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.
21Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you—
22for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23All this I tested by wisdom and I said, “I am determined to be wise”— but this was beyond me.
24Whatever exists is far off and most profound— who can discover it?
25So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
26I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
27“Look,” says the Teacher,
28while I was still searching but not finding— I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all. 29This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”
1Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.
Obey the King 2Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
8As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so
10Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise
13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. 14There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
15So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun. 16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
A Common Destiny for All 1So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.
2All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,
4Anyone who is among the living has hope
5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.
6Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun. 7Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.
10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
11I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
12Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Wisdom Better Than Folly 13I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.
16So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.
17The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
1As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.
3Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.
4If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest.
5There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
6Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones.
7I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.
8Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
9Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.
10If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.
11If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee.
12Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips.
13At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness—
14and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them?
15The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.
16Woe to the land whose king was a servant
17Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time— for strength and not for drunkenness.
18Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks.
19A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything. 20Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
Invest in Many Ventures 1Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.
2Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
3If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
4Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
5As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed
6Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Remember Your Creator While Young 7Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
8However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.
9You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
1Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”—
2before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;
3when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;
5when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.
6Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well,
7and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
The Conclusion of the Matter 9Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.
10The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
11The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.
12Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
13Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.