Read King James 1611 Ecclesiastes 1 Bible Online

Ecclesiastes 1 - King James 1611 bible

Ecclesiastes 1

¹The wordes of the Preacher, the son of Dauid, King in Ierusalem.

²Uanitie of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanitie of vanities, all is vanitie.

³What profite hath a man of all his labour which hee taketh vnder the Sunne?

⁴One generation passeth away, and another generation commeth: but the earth abideth for euer.

⁵The Sunne also ariseth, and the Sunne goeth downe, and hasteth to the place where he arose.

⁶The winde goeth toward the South, and turneth about vnto the North; it whirleth about continually, and the winde returneth againe according to his circuits.

⁷All the riuers runne into the sea, yet the Sea is not full: vnto the place from whence the riuers come, thither they returne againe.

⁸All things are full of labour, man cannot vtter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the eare filled with hearing.

⁹The thing that hath beene, it is that which shall be: and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing vnder the sunne.

¹⁰Is there any thing, whereof it may be sayd, See, this is new? it hath beene already of olde time, which was before vs.

¹¹There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there bee any remembrance of things that are to come, with those that shall come after.

¹²I the Preacher was king ouer Israel in Ierusalem.

¹³And I gaue my heart to seeke and search out by wisedome, concerning all things that are done vnder heauen: this sore trauell hath God giuen to the sonnes of man, to be exercised therewith.

¹⁴I haue seene all the workes that are done vnder the Sunne, and behold, all is vanitie, and vexation of spirit.

¹⁵That which is crooked, cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbred.

¹⁶I communed with mine owne heart, saying, Loe, I am come to great estate, and haue gotten more wisedome then all they that haue beene before me in Ierusalem: yea my heart had great experience of wisedome & knowledge.

¹⁷And I gaue my heart to know wisedome, and to know madnesse and folly: I perceiued that this also is vexation of spirit.

¹⁸For in much wisedome is much griefe: and hee that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.