EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS

Passage: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Key verse: 2

NIV

Everything Is Meaningless

1 The words of the Teacher,[a](A) son of David, king in Jerusalem:(B)

2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”(C)

3 What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?(D)
4 Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.(E)
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.(F)
6 The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.(G)
8 All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,(H)
    nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;(I)
    there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,(J)
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.(K)

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Footnotes
  1. Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

All Is Vanity

1 The words of (A)the Preacher,[a] the son of David, (B)king in Jerusalem.

2 (C)Vanity[b] of vanities, says (D)the Preacher,
    (E)vanity of vanities! (F)All is vanity.
3 (G)What (H)does man gain by all the toil
    at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
    but (I)the earth remains forever.
5 (J)The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
    and hastens[c] to the place where it rises.
6 (K)The wind blows to the south
    and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
    and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All (L)streams run to the sea,
    but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
    there they flow again.
8 All things are full of weariness;
    a man cannot utter it;
(M)the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
    nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 (N)What has been is what will be,
    and what has been done is what will be done,
    and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
    “See, this is new”?
It has been (O)already
    in the ages before us.
11 There is no (P)remembrance of former things,[d]
    nor will there be any remembrance
of later things[e] yet to be
    among those who come after.

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Footnotes
  1. Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or Convener, or Collector; Hebrew Qoheleth (so throughout Ecclesiastes)
  2. Ecclesiastes 1:2 The Hebrew term hebel, translated vanity or vain, refers concretely to a “mist,” “vapor,” or “mere breath,” and metaphorically to something that is fleeting or elusive (with different nuances depending on the context). It appears five times in this verse and in 29 other verses in Ecclesiastes
  3. Ecclesiastes 1:5 Or and returns panting
  4. Ecclesiastes 1:11 Or former people
  5. Ecclesiastes 1:11 Or later people
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
1. The words of the teacher (1-2) Most scholars agree that the "Teacher" is probably Solomon, son of King David, although some suggest the author may be someone else. ("Son" does not necessarily mean direct offspring). The Teacher starts off with the theme of the book-meaninglessness. When we look at this life, in which everything is so fleeting, everything must look meaningless. But we'll see the Teacher means everything outside of God is meaningless. In God is the meaningfulness. 2. What has been will be again (3-11) The Teacher sees meaninglessness in the never-ending cycles of nature-the sun rises and sets and rises again; rain fills the streams, which flow into the seas, which evaporate and turn to rain again. There is nothing new in nature. The Teacher also sees meaninglessness in the human condition. We never get enough of hearing or seeing. Everything that happens has happened before. Such is nature and people outside of God.

Prayer: Lord, everything outside of you is utterly meaningless. Help us to find the meaningfulness in you.

One Word: In God is the meaningfulness