Ecclesiastes 1:13
And I proposed in my mind to seek and search out wisely concerning all things that are done under the sun. This painful occupation hath God given to the children of men, to be exercised therein.
Douay-Rheims 1899
In The King James Version
In Context
12I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem,
Cross References
Genesis 3:19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.
Proverbs 2:2That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: Incline thy heart to know prudence:
Proverbs 18:1He that hath a mind to depart from a friend seeketh occasions: he shall ever be subject to reproach.
Proverbs 23:26My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
Ecclesiastes 1:17And I have given my heart to know prudence, and learning, and errors, and folly: and I have perceived that in these also there was labour, and vexation of spirit,
Ecclesiastes 2:26God hath given to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he hath given vexation, and superfluous care, to heap up and to gather together, and to give it to him that hath pleased God: but this also is vanity, and a fruitless solicitude 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 →