Ecclesiastes 1:13
And I was determined in my mind to seek and to investigate wisely, concerning all that is done under the sun. God has given this very difficult task to the sons of men, so that they may be occupied by it.
Catholic Public Domain Version
In The King James Version
In Context
12I, Ecclesiastes, was king of Israel at Jerusalem.
Cross References
Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return to the earth from which you were taken. For dust you are, and unto dust you shall return.”
Proverbs 2:2so that your ears may listen to wisdom, then bend your heart in order to know prudence.
Proverbs 18:1Whoever has a will to withdraw from a friend, seeks occasions; he shall be reproached at all times.
Proverbs 23:26My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
Ecclesiastes 1:17And I have dedicated my heart, so that I may know prudence and doctrine, and also error and foolishness. Yet I recognize that, in these things also, there is hardship, and affliction of the spirit.
Ecclesiastes 2:26God has given, to the man who is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and rejoicing. But to the sinner, he has given affliction and needless worrying, so as to add, and to gather, and to deliver, to him who has pleased God. But this, too, is emptiness and a hollow worrying of the mind.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 1:13-18
Vanity of Human Wisdom. 12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. 16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am… Read the whole commentary →