Ecclesiastes 1

Which worship songs are based on Ecclesiastes 1?

  1. Zion & Babylon — Josh Garrels (2008) Ecclesiastes 1:2

    The declaration of universal vanity reproduces Ecclesiastes’ signature verdict, applying it to the emptiness of acquiring wealth and worldly power.

  2. Light A Flame — Corey Mills (2015) Ecclesiastes 1:2

    The warning about beauty and worldly approval culminates in a close adaptation of Ecclesiastes' declaration that everything is vanity.

  3. vanity — CHANGETHEWXRLD (2024) Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

    The song’s presentation of everything as vapor, together with its emphasis on futile toil, strongly reflects Ecclesiastes’ opening declaration about vanity and the limited gain of human labor.

  4. The Right Things — Chris Renzema (2021) Ecclesiastes 1:2

    The pairing of vapor and breath as metaphors for life's brevity draws on the Preacher's hebel motif, where all human striving apart from God is described as fleeting and insubstantial.

  5. All Creatures — Josh Garrels (2009) Ecclesiastes 1:5

    The description of the sun rising, setting, and rising again closely reproduces this verse's cycle of solar movement. The song turns that recurring movement into encouragement rather than emphasizing its wearisome repetition.

  6. I'll Never Know — Tasha Layton (2025) Ecclesiastes 1:9

    The song directly invokes Ecclesiastes' description of life's recurring patterns beneath the sun, placing present human questions within an ancient cycle.

  7. The Meaning of Life — Josiah Queen (2025) Ecclesiastes 1:9

    The song directly references the phrase about nothing being new under the sun, which is a well-known line from Ecclesiastes, emphasizing the cyclical nature of life and human experience.

  8. Amen — Jae Jin (2015) Ecclesiastes 1:14

    The final verse combines the distinctive images of futile pursuit of wind and human activity beneath the sun. Together, these closely reproduce Ecclesiastes' assessment of earthly striving.

  9. Dear God (Acoustic) — Cory Asbury (2020) Ecclesiastes 1:14

    The image of pursuing the wind invokes Ecclesiastes’ description of futile human striving. Here it characterizes the exhausting attempt to secure approval through effort.

  10. OH! Se Fendesses - Ao Vivo — MORADA (2019) Ecclesiastes 1:14

    The opening description of pursuing the wind invokes Ecclesiastes’ recurring metaphor for the futility of human striving.

  11. Holidaze — Lecrae (2025) Ecclesiastes 1:14

    The description of pursuing vanity and becoming an air-chaser closely echoes Ecclesiastes’ assessment of pleasure, possessions, and human striving as empty and comparable to chasing the wind.

  12. Sunrise — Brandon Heath (2008) Ecclesiastes 1:14

    The second verse uses Ecclesiastes’ distinctive image of pursuing wind to describe the futile effort to recover passing days. Its acknowledgment that not everything can be reclaimed reinforces the passage’s emphasis on the limits of human striving.

  13. Your Ways (Isaiah 55) - Live — Shane & Shane & Kingdom Kids (2021) Ecclesiastes 1:14

    The image of pursuing the wind draws on Ecclesiastes’ recurring description of human striving as futile and incapable of producing lasting gain.

Ecclesiastes 1 (King James Version)

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.