Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place from where the rivers come, there they go again.

All things are full of weariness, man cannot utter [it]. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

That which has been is that which shall be, and that which has been done is that which shall be done. And there is no new thing under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it may be said, See, this is new? It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.

There is no remembrance of the former [things], nor shall there be any remembrance of the latter that are to come, among those who shall come after.

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven. It is a great tribulation that God has given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

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

For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

I said of laughter, It is mad, and of mirth, What does it do?

Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as far as light excels darkness.

The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it will happen even to me, and why then was I more wise? Then said I in my heart that this also is vanity.

For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance forever, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. And how the wise man dies even as the fool!

So I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous to me. For all is vanity and a striving after wind.

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skillfulness, yet he shall leave it to a man who has not labored in it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

For all his days are [but] sorrows, and his travail is grief, yea, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

There is nothing better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

For to the man who pleases him [God] gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

For everything there is a season, and a time for very purpose under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted,

I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live.

And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor. [It] is the gift of God.

That which is, has been long ago, and that which is to be, has long ago been. And God seeks again that which has passed away.

I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous man and the wicked man, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

I said in my heart, [It is] because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are beasts.

For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts, even one thing befalls them; as the one dies, so dies the other. Yea, they all have one breath, and man has no preeminence above the beasts; for all is vanity.

Therefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion. For who shall bring him [back] to see what shall be after him?

Keep thy foot when thou go to the house of God, for to draw near to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools. For they know not that they do evil.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth. Therefore let thy words be few.

Better is it that thou should not vow, than that thou should vow and not pay.

Do not allow thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, nor say thou before the [heavenly] agent, that is was an error. Why should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?

If thou see the oppression of a poor man, and the violent wresting of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter. For [a man] higher than the high is observing, and there are higher [men] than they.

Moreover the abundance of the land is for all. The king [himself] is served by the field.

He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.

When goods increase, they are increased who eat them. And what advantage is there to the owner of it, except the beholding [of them] with his eyes?

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the fullness of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches [were] kept by the owner of it to his hurt.

And those riches perish in a bad venture. And if he has begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.

As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.

And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he that he labored for the wind?

All his days also he eats in gloom, and he is greatly troubled, and has depression and anger.

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be fitting is [for a man] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor in which he labors under the sun all the days of his life which God has given him, for this is his p

Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men:

A man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

If a man begets a hundred sons, and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial, I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

For it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and the name of it is covered with darkness.

All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

For what advantage has the wise man more than the fool? What has the poor man, who knows how to walk before the living?

Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Whatever has been, the name of it was given long ago, and it is know what man is. Neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.

Since there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

A [good] name is better than precious oil, and the day of death, than the day of birth.

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made glad.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.

Surely oppression makes the wise man foolish, and a bribe destroys the understanding.

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning of it. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Say thou not, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? For thou do not inquire wisely concerning this.

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, yea, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.

For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense. But the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

All this I have seen in my days of vanity. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs [his life] in his evil-doing.

Be not over-righteous, nor show thyself too wise. Why should thou destroy thyself?

It is good that thou should take hold of this, yea, also from that withdraw not thy hand. For he who fears God shall come forth from them all.

Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers that are in a city.

Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth that does good, and sins not.

All this I have proved in wisdom. I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.

That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?

I turned about, and my heart [was set] to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the reason [of things], and to know that wickedness is folly, and that foolishness is madness.

And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, [and] whose hands are chains. He who pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.

Who is as the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

He who keeps a commandment shall know no evil thing. And a wise man's heart discerns the time and decision.

For to every purpose there is a time and decision, although the distress of man is great upon him.

There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, nor has he power over the day of death. And there is no discharge in war. Neither shall wickedness deliver him who is given to it.

All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun. [There is] a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.

So I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were praised in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

But it shall not be well with a wicked man, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow, because he did not fear before God.

There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked, again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that

When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is he who sees sleep with his eyes neither day nor night),

then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. Because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea moreover, though a wise man thinks to know it, yet he

For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God. No man understands, either love or hatred. All is before them.

All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous man and to the wicked man, to the good man and to the clean man and to the unclean man, to him who sacrifices and to him who does not sacrifice, as is the good man,

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all. Yea also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead.

Because to him who is joined with all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything, nor have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.

As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, has perished long ago, nor have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou love all the days of thy life of vanity, which he has given thee under the sun, all thy days of vanity. For that is thy portion in life, and in thy labor in which thou labor under the sun.

Whatever thy hand finds to do, do with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where thou go.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happens t

For man also does not know his time. As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falls suddenly upon them.

Now there was found in it a poor wise man. And he by his wisdom delivered the city, yet no man remembered that same poor man.

Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.