Ecclesiastes 1:14

I have seen all that is done under the sun, and behold: all is emptiness and an affliction of the spirit.

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

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

In Context

13And 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.

15The perverse are unwilling to be corrected, and the number of the foolish is boundless.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 1

Cross References

Psalms 39:5Blessed is the man whose hope is in the name of the Lord, and who has no respect for vanities and absurd falsehoods.

Ecclesiastes 2:11But when I turned myself toward all the works that my hands had made, and to the labors in which I had perspired to no purpose, I saw emptiness and affliction of the soul in all things, and that nothing is permanent under the sun.

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.

Ecclesiastes 4:4Again, I was contemplating all the labors of men. And I took notice that their endeavors are open to the envy of their neighbor. And so, in this, too, there is emptiness and superfluous anxiety.

Ecclesiastes 4:16The number of people, out of all who existed before these, is boundless. And those who will exist afterwards shall not rejoice in them. But this, too, is emptiness and an affliction of the spirit.

Ecclesiastes 12:8Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all is vanity!

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 →

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