There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

I said to myself, “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.”

And I turned to see wisdom, madness, and folly: for what the man that shall come after the king? with those things they did already.

Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

I looked again, and I saw all the oppression that occurs under the sun. {I saw the tears of the oppressed-- no one comforts them! Those who oppress them are powerful-- no one can comfort them}!

So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living.

For from the house of those turning away he came forth to reign; for also he being born in his kingdom became poor.

There is no end of all the people, of all that stood before them; those however that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after the wind.

When you make a vow or a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God takes no pleasure in fools [who thoughtlessly mock Him]. Pay what you vow.

If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight [of corruption]; for a higher official watches over another official, and there are higher ones over them [looking out for one another].

When prosperity increases, those who consume it increase. {So its owner gains nothing, except to see his wealth before it is spent}.

But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

It is better for a person to receive a rebuke from those who are wise than to listen to the song of fools.

Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And an advantage it is to those beholding the sun.

Indeed, wisdom gives protection, just like money does, but it's better to know that wisdom gives life, to those who have mastered it.

Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

I saw all this as I applied my heart to all the deeds done under the sun: {sometimes those in authority harm others}.

So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place [but did not thereby escape their doom], and they are [praised in spite of their evil and] soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility (vanity, emptiness).

Though a sinner is doing evil a hundred times, and prolonging himself for it, surely also I know that there is good to those fearing God, who fear before Him.

There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.

When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),

The same fate [comes] to everyone: to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the wicked, to the clean and to the unclean, to those who sacrifice and to those who do not sacrifice. As [with] the good [man], so also to the sinner; [as with] those who swear an oath, so [also] those who fear oaths.

For whoever is chosen, to all those living, there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;

The sayings of the wise are like goads, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd.