Ecclesiastes 1:13
And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a miserable task God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
Majority Standard Bible
In The King James Version
In Context
12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Cross References
Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
Proverbs 2:2if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
Proverbs 18:1He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.
Proverbs 23:26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
Ecclesiastes 1:17So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is 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.
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 →