Ecclesiastes
Chapter 1
What Happens in This Chapter
The book opens with the Teacher, a son of David and king in Jerusalem, saying that everything is empty. He points to the sun, the wind, and the rivers going round and round, and to people, who are born, die, and are forgotten. He tells how he used his wisdom to study everything done under the sun, and found it like chasing the wind. He ends by saying that more wisdom brings more sorrow.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
1These are the words of the Teacher. He was a son of David and king in Jerusalem.
The King James Bible calls him "the Preacher." The old word means a teacher who speaks to a group of people, not a preacher in a church.
2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
2The Teacher says, "It is all empty, so empty. Everything is empty."
The old word here is "vanity." It does not mean being proud of how you look. It means empty, like a puff of breath that is gone right away.
3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
3People work hard all their lives here under the sun. What do they really get from it?
"Under the sun" means here in this world, in everyday life. The book uses this phrase again and again.
4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
4People are born, and people die, again and again. But the earth stays right where it is.
5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
5The sun comes up. The sun goes down. Then it hurries back to rise again.
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 toward the south. Then it turns toward the north. It goes round and round. It always comes back along the same path.
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 run into the sea. Still the sea never gets full. The water goes back where the rivers start. Then it flows down again.
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 tiring. No one can say it all. Eyes never see enough. Ears never hear enough.
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.
9What happened before will happen again. What was done before will be done again. There is nothing new here under the sun.
10Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
10Can anyone point at something and say, "Look, this is new"? It was already here long ago, before we were born.
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 the people who lived long ago. And the people still to come will be forgotten too, by those who come after them.
12I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
12I am the Teacher. I was 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 made up my mind to study everything people do under the sky. I used all my wisdom to look and to search. It is heavy work. God gave people this work to keep them busy.
14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
14I have seen everything people do here under the sun. It is all empty. It is like chasing the wind.
15That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
15If a thing is bent, no one can make it straight. If a thing is missing, no one can count it.
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 said to myself, "Look how much I have grown. I am wiser than everyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I have learned a great deal."
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 set my mind to learn about wisdom, and about wild and foolish ways too. I found that this is also like chasing the wind.
18For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
18The more wisdom you have, the more sadness you feel. The more you learn, the more it hurts.
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