Ecclesiastes 1:11
No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.
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Referenced Verses
- Eccl 2:16 : 16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies– just like the fool!
- Eccl 9:5 : 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward– and even the memory of them disappears.
- Isa 41:22-26 : 22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen! Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled. Or decree for us some future events! 23 Predict how future events will turn out, so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe. 24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent; the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. 25 I have stirred up one out of the north and he advances, one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. He steps on rulers as if they were clay, like a potter treading the clay. 26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know? Who announced it ahead of time, so we could say,‘He’s correct’? Indeed, none of them decreed it! Indeed, none of them announced it! Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
- Isa 42:9 : 9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; now I announce new events. Before they begin to occur, I reveal them to you.”
- Ps 9:6 : 6 The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins; you destroyed their cities; all memory of the enemies has perished.
Similar Verses (AI)
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
- Eccl 1:8-103 verses85%
8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.
9 What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.
10 Is there anything about which someone can say,“Look at this! It is new!”? It was already done long ago, before our time.
- Eccl 4:15-162 verses81%
15 I considered all the living who walk on earth, as well as the successor who would arise in his place.
16 There is no end to all the people nor to the past generations, yet future generations will not rejoice in him. This also is profitless and like chasing the wind.
- Eccl 2:16-194 verses79%
16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies– just like the fool!
17 So I loathed life because what happens on earth seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom are futile– like chasing the wind.
18 Futility of Being a Workaholic So I loathed all the fruit of my effort, for which I worked so hard on earth, because I must leave it behind in the hands of my successor.
19 Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!
- Eccl 3:14-152 verses77%
14 God’s Sovereignty I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.
15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.
- Eccl 9:5-62 verses76%
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward– and even the memory of them disappears.
6 What they loved, as well as what they hated and envied, perished long ago, and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth.
- Eccl 1:1-55 verses75%
1 ¶ Title The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 Introduction: Utter Futility“Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher,“Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”
3 Futility Illustrated from Nature What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth?
4 A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth remains the same through the ages.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again.
- 75%
18 “Don’t remember these earlier events; don’t recall these former events.
- Eccl 2:11-122 verses73%
11 Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded:“All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless– like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained from them on earth.”
12 Wisdom is Better than Folly Next, I decided to consider wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas. For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king has already done?
- Eccl 1:14-152 verses73%
14 I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile– like chasing the wind!
15 What is bent cannot be straightened, and what is missing cannot be supplied.
- Eccl 4:2-32 verses72%
2 So I considered those who are dead and gone more fortunate than those who are still alive.
3 But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.
- 72%
12 Futility of Secular Accomplishment I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
- Eccl 6:10-123 verses72%
10 The Futile Way Life Works Whatever has happened was foreordained, and what happens to a person was also foreknown. It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate because God is more powerful than he is.
11 The more one argues with words, the less he accomplishes. How does that benefit him?
12 For no one knows what is best for a person during his life– during the few days of his fleeting life– for they pass away like a shadow. Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth.
- 71%
17 then I discerned all that God has done: No one really comprehends what happens on earth. Despite all human efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp it. Even if a wise person claimed that he understood, he would not really comprehend it.
- 71%
10 Do not say,“Why were the old days better than these days?” for it is not wise to ask that.
- 71%
10 Contradictions to the Law of Retribution Not only that, but I have seen the wicked approaching and entering the temple, and as they left the holy temple, they boasted in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma.
- 71%
8 Concluding Refrain: Qoheleth Restates His Thesis“Absolutely futile!” laments the Teacher,“All of these things are futile!”
- 70%
1 Fear God Now Because Old Age and Death Come Quickly So remember your Creator in the days of your youth– before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you will say,“I have no pleasure in them”;
- 70%
22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds?
- 70%
8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many– all that is about to come is obscure.
- 70%
17 For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth! The former ones will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore.
- Eccl 3:11-122 verses70%
11 God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives.
12 Enjoy Life in the Present I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live,
- 70%
16 but when the hot wind blows by, it disappears, and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
- 70%
1 Everyone Will Die So I reflected on all this, attempting to clear it all up. I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated– no one knows what lies ahead.
- 69%
7 Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen.
- 69%
8 A man who is all alone with no companion, he has no children nor siblings; yet there is no end to all his toil, and he is never satisfied with riches. He laments,“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is futile and a burdensome task!
- Eccl 6:5-62 verses69%
5 though it never saw the light of day nor knew anything, yet it has more rest than that man–
6 if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die!
- 69%
19 For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting.
- 69%
12 so man lies down and does not rise; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor arise from their sleep.
- 69%
9 As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.
- 69%
3 This is the unfortunate fact about everything that happens on earth: the same fate awaits everyone. In addition to this, the hearts of all people are full of evil, and there is folly in their hearts during their lives– then they die.
- 68%
16 This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?