13 And I (A)set my [a]mind to seek and (B)explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a [b](C)sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 1:13 Lit heart
  2. Ecclesiastes 1:13 Lit evil

13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.(A) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!(B)

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10 I have seen the (A)task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to [a]occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Mankind

11 He has (B)made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind (C)will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:10 Or trouble

10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.(A) 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.(B) He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom(C) what God has done from beginning to end.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:11 Or also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that

17 and I saw every work of God, I concluded that (A)one cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though a person laboriously seeks, he will not discover; and (B)even if the wise person claims to know, he cannot discover.

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17 then I saw all that God has done.(A) No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.(B)

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