Ecclesiastes 1:8
6 The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
7 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 wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
9 What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
- KJV
- All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
- WEB
- All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
- ASV
- All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
- DARBY
- All things are full of toil; none can express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
- BLB
- All the things [are] wearisome—a man is not able to speak; the eye is not satisfied from seeing, and the ear is not filled from hearing.
- ÅB
- Alle ting strever utrettelig, ingen kan utsi det; øyet blir ikke mett av å se, og øret blir ikke fullt av å høre.
- OTB
- Alle ting er slitende, mer enn man kan uttrykke. Øyet blir ikke mett av å se, og øret blir ikke fylt av å høre.
- B1930
- Alle ting strever utrettelig, ingen kan utsi det; øiet blir ikke mett av å se, og øret blir ikke fullt av å høre.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Proverbs 27:20
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Read in contextMatthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 4:8
There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 5:10–11
He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
Read in contextPsalms 63:5
My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 4:1–4
Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
Read in contextRomans 8:22–23
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
Read in contextRevelation 7:16–17
‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’
Read in context