Scripture · Old Testament
Ecclesiastes 1:17
Ecclesiastes 1:17 is verse 17 of Ecclesiastes chapter 1, shown here in the Berean Standard Bible.
Berean Standard Bible
So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
King James Version
And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
World English Bible
I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.
Read in context
Ecclesiastes 1:15–18 · Berean Standard Bible
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 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.”
17 So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 1Hebrew words
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Study Ecclesiastes 1:17
Cross-references
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.
Ecclesiastes 1:13And 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!
Ecclesiastes 2:3I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
Ecclesiastes 2:12Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?
Ecclesiastes 7:23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.
Ecclesiastes 7:24What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?
Ecclesiastes 7:25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
1 Thessalonians 5:21but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.
Ecclesiastes 2:10Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.