13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
Ecclesiastes 1:13–15
Semantically similar passages
Ecclesiastes 2:10–12
10 Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to ach…
Ecclesiastes 8:16–17
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night— 17 I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun.…
Ecclesiastes 3:9–11
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done…
Ecclesiastes 2:19–21
19 And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. 20 So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun. 21 When there is a man w…
Ecclesiastes 7:12–14
12 For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. 13 Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent? 14 In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this:…
Ecclesiastes 12:7–9
7 before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!” 9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched…
Ecclesiastes 1:1–3
1 These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!” 3 What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:7–9
7 All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow. 8 All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. 9 What has…
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