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

And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this severe burden has God given to the sons of man to be afflicted with.

And I set my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is like grasping the wind.

I said in my heart, Come now, I will test you with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

And whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my reward of all my labor.

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

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

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

For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart takes not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

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

For God gives to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping up, only that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping of the wind.

Again, I considered all toil, and every skillful work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbor. This is also vanity and grasping after the wind.

There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he has neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labor; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither says he, For whom do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a heavy travail.

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after him shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and grasping after the wind.

He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loves abundance, with increase: this is also vanity.

And this also is a great evil, that just as he came, so shall he go: and what profit has he who has labored for the wind?

Behold that which I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he takes under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him: for this is his lot.

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

A man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wants nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him not power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it: this is vanity, and it is an evil affliction.

Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this one has more rest than the other.

Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and grasping after the wind.

Whatever has been is named already, and it is known that this is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.

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

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

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

It is good that you should take hold of this; yea, also from this withhold not your hand: for he that fears God shall come forth of them all.

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

Behold, this have I found, says the preacher, adding one thing to another, to find out the reason:

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

All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the holy place, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are just men, unto 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 this also is vanity.

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knows either love or hatred by all that is before them.

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto 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.

Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of the life of your vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity: for that is your portion in this life, and in your labor which you perform under the sun.

This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand: for you know not which shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both alike shall be good.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.