Ecclesiastes 1:11-15
Living Bible
8-11 everything is unutterably weary and tiresome. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are not content.
History merely repeats itself. Nothing is truly new; it has all been done or said before. What can you point to that is new? How do you know it didn’t exist long ages ago? We don’t remember what happened in those former times, and in the future generations no one will remember what we have done back here.
12-15 I, the Preacher, was king of Israel, living in Jerusalem. And I applied myself to search for understanding about everything in the universe. I discovered that the lot of man, which God has dealt to him, is not a happy one. It is all foolishness, chasing the wind. What is wrong cannot be righted; it is water over the dam; and there is no use thinking of what might have been.
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Ecclesiastes 1:11-13
New International Version
11 No one remembers the former generations,(A)
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.(B)
Wisdom Is Meaningless
12 I, the Teacher,(C) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.(D) 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.(E) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!(F)
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