| 1:3 |
What does a manperson gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? |
| 1:5 |
The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it returnshurries back to itsthe place where it rises. |
| 1:7 |
All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full.; Theto streamsthe areplace flowingwhere to the placestreams flow, andthere they flow there again. |
| 1:8 |
All things are wearisome;, manmore isthan unableanyone tocan speaksay. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing. |
| 1:13 |
I applied my mind to seekexamine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied. |
| 1:16 |
I said to myself, “LookSee, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.” |
| 2:3 |
I explored with my mind howthe topull letof my body enjoy life with wine andon howmy tobody grasp— folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom — and how to grasp folly, until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. |
| 2:6 |
I constructed reservoirs of water for myself from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees. |
| 2:7 |
I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned manylivestock herds— oflarge cattleherds and flocks, — more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. |
| 2:12 |
Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the manking’s successor be like who comes after the king? He will do what has already been done. |
| 2:14 |
The wise manperson has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both. |
| 2:16 |
For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise manperson dies just like the fool? |
| 2:18 |
I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the manone who comes after me. |
| 2:19 |
And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. |
| 2:21 |
When there is a manperson whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a manperson who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. |
| 2:22 |
For what does a manperson get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? |
| 2:24 |
There is nothing better for mana person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, |
| 2:25 |
because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from Himhim? |
| 2:26 |
For to the manperson who is pleasing in Hishis sight, Hehe gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy,; but to the sinner Hehe gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. |
| 3:10 |
I have seen the task that God has given peoplethe children of Adam to keep them occupied. |
| 3:11 |
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but manno cannotone can discover the work God has done from beginning to end. |
| 3:14 |
I know that alleverything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of Himhim. |
| 3:15 |
Whatever is, has already been, and whatever will be, already is. However, God repeatsseeks whatjustice hasfor passedthe persecuted. |
| 3:18 |
I said to myself, “This happens concerning people, so that God may test themthe children of Adam and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.” |
| 3:19 |
For the fate of peoplethe children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile. |
| 3:21 |
Who knows if the spiritspirits of peoplethe riseschildren of Adam go upward and the spiritspirits of animals goesgo downward to the earth? |
| 4:2 |
So I admiredcommended the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive. |
| 4:4 |
I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to aone manperson’s jealousy of his friendanother. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. |
| 4:8 |
There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “SoWho who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself fromof good things?” This too is futile and a miserable task. |
| 5:1 |
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to drawapproach near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong. |
| 5:3 |
ForJust as dreams resultaccompany from much worklabor, andso also a fool’s voice fromcomes with many words. |
| 5:4 |
When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because Hehe does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow. |
| 5:7 |
For many dreams bring futility,; so do many words. Therefore, fear God. |
| 5:10 |
The one who loves moneysilver is never satisfied with moneysilver, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile. |
| 5:17 |
What is more, he eats in darkness all his days, with much sorrowfrustration, sickness, and anger. |
| 5:18 |
Here is what I have seen to be good: itIt is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward. |
| 5:19 |
Furthermore, everyone to whom God has also given riches and wealth to every man, andhe He has also allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God, |
| 6:2 |
God gives a manperson riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy. |
| 6:6 |
And if hea person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place? |
| 6:7 |
All manof a person’s labor is for his stomach, yet the appetite is never satisfied. |
| 6:8 |
What advantage then does the wise manperson have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? |
| 6:10 |
Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what manmankind is. But he is not able to contend with the Oneone stronger than he. |
| 6:11 |
For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for manmankind? |
| 6:12 |
For who knows what is good for mananyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell mananyone what will happen after him under the sun? |
| 7:1 |
A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. |
| 7:7 |
Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe destroyscorrupts the mind. |
| 7:12 |
because wisdom is protection as moneysilver is protection,; andbut the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. |
| 7:13 |
Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what Hehe has made crooked? |
| 7:14 |
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that manno cannotone can discover anything that will come after him. |
| 7:15 |
In my futile life I have seen everything: theresomeone is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness, and theresomeone is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil. |
| 7:19 |
Wisdom makes the wise manperson stronger than ten rulers of a city. |
| 7:20 |
There is certainly no one righteous man on the earth who does good and never sins. |
| 7:22 |
for in your heart you know that many times you yourself have cursed others. |
| 7:25 |
I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and seekexamine wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. |
| 7:26 |
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap,: her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her. |
| 7:28 |
which my soul continually searches for but does not find: among a thousand people I have found one trueperson manin a thousand, but amongnone allof thesethose Iwas have not found a true woman. |
| 8:1 |
Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A manperson’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed. |
| 8:6 |
For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though mana person’s troubles are heavy on him. |
| 8:8 |
No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; thereno one is nodischarged furloughduring in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. |
| 8:9 |
All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one manperson has authority over another to his harm. |
| 8:10 |
In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they did sothose things. This too is futile. |
| 8:11 |
Because the sentence against aan criminalevil act is not carried out quickly, the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit crimeevil. |
| 8:12 |
Although a sinner commitsdoes crimeevil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before Himhim. |
| 8:15 |
So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for mana person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. |
| 8:17 |
I observed all the work of God and concluded that mana person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a manperson labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if thea wise manperson claims to know it, he is unable to discover it. |
| 9:1 |
Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: theThe righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands. People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them. |
| 9:2 |
Everything is the same for everyone: thereThere is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so also it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who takes an oath, so also for the one who fears an oath. |
| 9:3 |
This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—; after that they go to the dead. |
| 9:12 |
For man certainly doesno notone knowknows his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them. |
| 10:2 |
A wise manperson’s heart goes to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. |
| 10:4 |
If the ruler’s anger rises against you, don’t leave your placepost, for calmness puts great offenses to rest. |
| 10:9 |
The one who quarries stones may be hurt by them; the one who splits treeslogs may be endangered by them. |
| 10:12 |
The words from the mouth of a wise manperson are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him. |
| 10:13 |
The beginning of the words offrom his mouth is folly, but the end of his speaking is evil madness.; |
| 10:14 |
Yetyet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what will happen, and who can tell anyone what will happen after him? |
| 10:17 |
Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles and your princes feast at the proper time — for strength and not for drunkenness. |
| 11:1 |
Send your bread on the surface of the waterswater, for after many days you may find it. |
| 11:5 |
Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything. |
| 11:8 |
Indeed, if asomeone man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many. All that comes is futile. |
| 11:9 |
Rejoice, young manperson, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sightdesire of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment. |
| 12:3 |
on the day when the guardians of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, the women who grind grain cease because they are few, and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly, |
| 12:5 |
Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry has no effect; for manthe mere mortal is headed to his eternal home, and mourners will walk around in the street; |
| 12:11 |
The sayings of the wise are like goadscattle prods, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd. |
| 12:13 |
When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep Hishis commands, because this is for all humanity. |