For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

a time to give birth and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to uproot;

A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand [who pleases God], but I have not found [such] a woman among all these [a thousand in my harem].

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

For I have taken all this to heart, exploring and examining it all, how the righteous (those in right standing with God) and the wise and their deeds are in the hands of God. No man knows whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.

Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.

Earnestly remember your Creator before the silver cord [of life] is broken, or the golden bowl is crushed, or the pitcher at the fountain is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.