The Man Who Has It All

[hunnidrounds]

Ecclesiastes 1​

1These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.

Everything Is Meaningless

2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets,

then hurries around to rise again. 6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 7Rivers run into the sea, but the sea

is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. 8Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see,

we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is

old; nothing is ever truly new. 11We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

Wisdom Is Meaningless

12I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. 13I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under

heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. 14I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless

—like chasing the wind. 15What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered. 16I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings

who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly.

But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind. 18The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.


Pleasures Are Meaningless

1 I said to myself, “Come on. I’ll try out pleasure. I want to find out if it is good.” But it also proved to be meaningless. 2“Laughter doesn’t make any sense,” I said.

“And what can pleasure do for me?” 3I tried cheering myself up by drinking wine. I even tried living in a foolish way. But wisdom was still guiding my mind. I wanted

to see what was good for people to do on earth during their short lives. 4 So I started some large projects. I built houses for myself. I planted vineyards. 5I made

gardens and parks. I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6I made lakes to water groves of healthy trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves. And I had other slaves

who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem ever had before. 8I stored up silver and gold for myself. I gathered up

the treasures of kings and their kingdoms. I got some male and female singers. I also got many women for myself. Women delight the hearts of men. 9I became far

more important than anyone in Jerusalem had ever been before. And in spite of everything, I didn’t lose my wisdom. 10 I gave myself everything my eyes wanted.

There wasn’t any pleasure that I refused to give myself. I took delight in everything I did. And that was what I got for all my work. 11But then I looked over

everything my hands had done. I saw what I had worked so hard to get. And nothing had any meaning. It was like chasing the wind.

Nothing was gained on this earth.

Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless

Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,

and also madness and folly.

What more can the king’s successor do

than what has already been done?

13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly,

just as light is better than darkness.

14 The wise have eyes in their heads,

while the fool walks in the darkness;

but I came to realize

that the same fate overtakes them both.

15 Then I said to myself,

“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.

What then do I gain by being wise?”

I said to myself,

“This too is meaningless.”

16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;

the days have already come when both have been forgotten.

Like the fool, the wise too must die!

Toil is Meaningless

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18I hated all the things I had

toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will

have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20So my heart began to despair over all

my toilsome labor under the sun. 21For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled

for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?

23All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. 24A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink

and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.