Ecclesiastes 12:8

The Message

It’s all smoke, nothing but smoke. The Quester says that everything’s smoke.

Cross References

Psalm 62:9

Man as such is smoke, woman as such, a mirage. Put them together, they’re nothing; two times nothing is nothing.

Ecclesiastes 1:1

These are the words of the Quester, David’s son and king in Jerusalem:

Ecclesiastes 1:12

Call me “the Quester.” I’ve been king over Israel in Jerusalem. I looked most carefully into everything, searched out all that is done on this earth. And let me tell you, there’s not much to write home about. God hasn’t made it easy for us. I’ve seen it all and it’s nothing but smoke—smoke, and spitting into the wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:2

Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That’s what the Quester says.] There’s nothing to anything—it’s all smoke. What’s there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone? One generation goes its way, the next one arrives, but nothing changes—it’s business as usual for old planet earth. The sun comes up and the sun goes down, then does it again, and again—the same old round. The wind blows south, the wind blows north. Around and around and around it blows, blowing this way, then that—the whirling, erratic wind. All the rivers flow into the sea, but the sea never fills up. The rivers keep flowing to the same old place, and then start all over and do it again. Everything’s boring, utterly boring— no one can find any meaning in it. Boring to the eye, boring to the ear. What was will be again, what happened will happen again. There’s nothing new on this earth. Year after year it’s the same old thing. Does someone call out, “Hey, this is new”? Don’t get excited—it’s the same old story. Nobody remembers what happened yesterday. And the things that will happen tomorrow? Nobody’ll remember them either. Don’t count on being remembered.

Ecclesiastes 2:17

I hate life. As far as I can see, what happens on earth is a bad business. It’s smoke—and spitting into the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.

Ecclesiastes 8:8

No one can control the wind or lock it in a box. No one has any say-so regarding the day of death. No one can stop a battle in its tracks. No one who does evil can be saved by evil.