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Ecclesiastes 1:14

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.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

KJV

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

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Commentary

3 voices

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

12 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
רָאִ֙יתִי֙ra.'I.tiI have seenH7200 →
אֶת־'et-<obj.>H853 →
כָּל־kol-allH3605 →
הַֽמַּעֲשִׂ֔יםha.ma.'a.Simthe worksH4639 →
שֶֽׁנַּעֲשׂ֖וּshe.na.'a.Suthat <they> have been doneH6213 →
תַּ֣חַתTa.chatunderH8478 →
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁha.Sha.meshthe sunH8121 →
וְהִנֵּ֥הve.hi.Nehand there!H2009 →
הַכֹּ֛לha.Kol<the> everythingH3605 →
הֶ֖בֶלHe.vel[is] futilityH1892 →
וּרְע֥וּתu.re.'Utand striving ofH7469 →
רֽוּחַ׃Ru.achwindH7307 →

The walk

Related verses

18 strongest cross-references

The gold bar shows how strongly the cross-reference sources tie the two verses together: a long bar means many compiled references make the connection, a short one means few.

Matthew 11:28Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.Ecclesiastes 2:17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.Ecclesiastes 2:26To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.Psalms 127:2In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat— for He gives sleep to His beloved.Ecclesiastes 6:9Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.Ecclesiastes 11:10So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting.Psalms 39:6Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.Ecclesiastes 4:16There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.Jeremiah 2:13“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.Ecclesiastes 1:17–18So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.Psalms 39:5–6You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. SelahEcclesiastes 4:4I 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.Ecclesiastes 8:9All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.Job 7:3So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.Ecclesiastes 2:15So 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 this too is futile.Psalms 144:4Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.Ecclesiastes 12:8“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”

Featured studies on this passage

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré

On Ecclesiastes 1:14

Ecclesiastes: the Study Guide

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Still-Life with a Skull (Vanitas) — Philippe de Champaigne

On Ecclesiastes 1:14

Vanity Under the Sun — Ecclesiastes

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Gerard van Honthorst, King David Playing the Harp: the shepherd-king whose name stands over nearly half the Psalter (Psalms 3–41 and beyond).

Walks through Ecclesiastes 1

Wisdom and the Poets

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Walks through Ecclesiastes 1

Bookends: How Scripture Frames Itself

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About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 1 →The featured study →
Continue: Ecclesiastes 1 →