Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes is book 21 of 66 and belongs to Wisdom & Poetry in the Old Testament. It has 12 chapters, each with source-checked General, Historical and Literary context. 2 people are indexed in its passages.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Chapters
- Ecclesiastes 1: Ecclesiastes 1: the Preacher declares that all is vanity
The book opens by naming its speaker as the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. His first words are that all is vanity, and he asks what… - Ecclesiastes 2: Ecclesiastes 2: the Preacher tests pleasure, work and wisdom
The Preacher says he set out to prove himself with mirth and pleasure, and found that this also is vanity; he calls laughter mad and asks what mirth… - Ecclesiastes 3: Ecclesiastes 3: a time for every purpose under heaven
The chapter opens with the statement that everything has a season and every purpose a time, followed by fourteen paired times: to be born and to die… - Ecclesiastes 4: Ecclesiastes 4: oppression, envy, solitude and a king no one will remember
The Preacher turns to the oppressions done under the sun and sees the tears of the oppressed, who have no comforter, while power is on the side of… - Ecclesiastes 5: Ecclesiastes 5: few words before God, and riches that cannot be kept
The chapter opens with direct instruction: keep thy foot when going to the house of God, be readier to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, and… - Ecclesiastes 6: Ecclesiastes 6: wealth without the power to enjoy it
The Preacher describes an evil he has seen under the sun and calls common among men: a man to whom God has given riches, wealth and honour, wanting… - Ecclesiastes 7: Ecclesiastes 7: better sayings, the day of adversity and the limits of wisdom
The chapter opens with sayings built on better: a good name over precious ointment, the day of death over the day of birth, the house of mourning… - Ecclesiastes 8: Ecclesiastes 8: the king's word, delayed sentence and the work no one can find out
The chapter opens by asking who is as the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a thing; wisdom makes a man's face shine. The speaker counsels… - Ecclesiastes 9: Ecclesiastes 9: one event for all, joy in one's portion and a poor man's forgotten wisdom
The Preacher declares that the righteous, the wise and their works are in the hand of God, and that no one knows love or hatred by what lies before… - Ecclesiastes 10: Ecclesiastes 10: dead flies, a fool's words and a land whose king is a child
Dead flies make the apothecary's ointment stink, and so does a little folly to one known for wisdom and honour. A wise man's heart is at his right… - Ecclesiastes 11: Ecclesiastes 11: bread on the waters, sowing in the morning and rejoicing in youth
The hearer is told to cast his bread upon the waters and find it after many days, and to give a portion to seven and also to eight, because he does… - Ecclesiastes 12: Ecclesiastes 12: remember thy Creator, the dust returns and the conclusion of the whole matter
The hearer is told to remember his Creator in the days of his youth, before the evil days and the years in which he will say he has no pleasure…
