Ecclesiastes 1:2

Contemporary English Version (Anglicised) 2012

Nothing makes sense! Everything is nonsense. I have seen it all— nothing makes sense!

Cross References

Job 11:12

but it's easier to tame a wild donkey than to make a fool wise.

Psalm 144:4

We disappear like a breath; we last no longer than a faint shadow.

Psalm 89:47

Remember, life is short! Why did you empty our lives of all meaning?

Ecclesiastes 11:10

Rid yourself of all worry and pain, because the wonderful moments of youth quickly disappear.

Ecclesiastes 11:8

Even if you live to a ripe old age, you should try to enjoy each day, because darkness will come and will last a long time. Nothing makes sense.

Ecclesiastes 12:8

Nothing makes sense. I have seen it all— nothing makes sense.

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I thought about everything I had done, including the hard work, and it was simply chasing the wind. Nothing on earth is worth the trouble.

Ecclesiastes 2:15

Finally, I said to myself, “Being wise got me nowhere! The same thing will happen to me that happens to fools. Nothing makes sense.

Ecclesiastes 2:17

This made me hate life. Everything we do is painful; it's just as senseless as chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:19

Who knows if those people will be sensible or stupid? Either way, they will own everything I have earned by hard work and wisdom. It doesn't make sense.

Ecclesiastes 2:21

When we use our wisdom, knowledge, and skill to get what we own, why do we have to leave it to someone who didn't work for it? This is senseless and wrong.

Ecclesiastes 2:23

Our bodies ache during the day, and work is torture. Then at night our thoughts are troubled. It just doesn't make sense.

Ecclesiastes 2:26

If we please God, he will make us wise, understanding, and happy. But if we sin, God will make us struggle for a living, then he will give all we own to someone who pleases him. This makes no more sense than chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:8

Foreign rulers brought me silver, gold, and precious treasures. Men and women sang for me, and I had many wives who gave me great pleasure.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

Like animals we breathe and die, and we are no better off than they are. It just doesn't make sense.

Ecclesiastes 4:16

His followers could not even be counted. But years from now, no one will praise him—this makes no more sense than chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

Then I realized that we work and do wonderful things just because we are jealous of others. This makes no more sense than chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:8

For example, some people don't have friends or family. But they are never satisfied with what they own, and they never stop working to get more. They should ask themselves, “Why am I always working to have more? Who will get what I leave behind?” What a senseless and miserable life!

Ecclesiastes 5:10

If you love money and wealth, you will never be satisfied with what you have. This doesn't make sense either.

Ecclesiastes 6:11

The more we talk, the less sense we make, so what good does it do to talk?

Romans 8:20

Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope