Translation comparison

Ecclesiastes 1

18 aligned verses; 18 with wording or punctuation differences .

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Verse ASV American Standard Version BSB Berean Standard Bible
The words of the Preacher , the son of David, king in Jerusalem .
These are the words of the Teacher , the son of David, king in Jerusalem :
Vanity of vanities , saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities , all is vanity.
“Futility of futilities , says the Teacher , “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun?
What does a man gain from all his labor , at which he toils under the sun?
One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever .
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever .
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth .
The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises .
The wind goeth toward the south , and turneth about unto the north ; it turneth about continually in its course , and the wind returneth again to its circuits .
The wind blows southward , then turns northward ; round and round it swirls , ever returning on its course .
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go , thither they go again.
All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come , there again they flow .
All things are full of weariness ; man cannot utter `it': the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
All things are wearisome, more than one can describe ; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
That which hath been is that which shall be ; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done : and there is no new thing under the sun.
What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing whereof it may be said , See , this is new? it hath been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
Is there a case where one can say , “Look , this is new ? It has already existed in the ages before us.
There is no remembrance of the former `generations'; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter `generations' that are to come , among those that shall come after.
There is no remembrance of those who came before , and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I , the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven : it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven . What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun ; and , behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered .
What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted .
I communed with mine own hear, saying , Lo , I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem ; yea , my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
I said to myself , “Behold , I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.
And I applied my heart to know wisdom , and to know madness and folly : I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.
So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly ; I learned that this , too, is a pursuit of the wind.
For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow .
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases .

Scripture text: American Standard Version and Berean Standard Bible. Public domain.; Public domain; source text distributed by BSB Publishing, LLC..