Ecclesiastes 1:13

Revised Standard Version (RSV-CI)

And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.

Cross References

Genesis 3:19

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Job 28:3

Men put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness.

Psalm 111:2

Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who have pleasure in them.

Proverbs 18:1

He who is estranged seeks pretexts to break out against all sound judgment.

Proverbs 18:15

An intelligent mind acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

Proverbs 23:26

My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

Proverbs 25:2

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

Proverbs 4:7

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

Ecclesiastes 1:17

And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

As you do not know how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

Ecclesiastes 12:12

My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Ecclesiastes 2:23

For all his days are full of pain, and his work is a vexation; even in the night his mind does not rest. This also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 2:26

For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 3:10

I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:8

a person who has no one, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

Ecclesiastes 7:25

I turned my mind to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the sum of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness which is madness.

Ecclesiastes 8:9

All this I observed while applying my mind to all that is done under the sun, while man lords it over man to his hurt.

1 Timothy 4:15

Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.