All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; to the place from where the rivers come, there they return again.

I sought in my heart to drag my flesh with wine, yet leading my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see where the good for the sons of men might be, what they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.

And I turned to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king, when they have already done it?

I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God does it so that they fear before Him.

I said in my heart concerning the matter of sons of men, that God might reveal them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

For that which happens to the sons of men also happens to beasts, even one thing happens to them. As this one dies, so that one dies; yea, they all have one breath; so that a man has no advantage over a beast; for all is vanity.

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold the tears of the oppressed ones, and they had no comforter! And on the side of those who oppressed them there was power, but they had no comforter.

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he does not have another to help him.

Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone?

There is no end of all the people, of all who have been before them; they also who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools. For they do not know that they are doing evil.

If you see the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter. For He who is higher than the highest watches; and there are some higher than they.

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

And so I saw the wicked buried, and they came and went from the holy place. And they were forgotten in the city, these things that they had done. This is also vanity.

This is an evil among all things that are 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.

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

Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; nor do they any longer have a part forever in all that is done under the sun.

A fool also makes many words; a man knows not what they shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

If the clouds are full of rain, they empty on the earth; and if the tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be.

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know what shall be blessed, either this or that, or whether they both shall be fruitful in the same way.

but if a man lives many years, and rejoices in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.

also they are afraid of the high place, and terrors along the way, and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goes to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets;

The words of the wise are like goads; yes, their collected words are like nails driven home; they are given from one Shepherd.