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. 16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind. 18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
Ecclesiastes 1:13–18
Semantically similar passages
Ecclesiastes 7:22–24
22 For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. 24 What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?
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 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…
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 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 2:14–16
14 The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both. 15 So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that t…
Ecclesiastes 4:3–5
3 But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. 4 I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and consu…
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