There is no remembrance of those who came before;
and of those who will come after
there will also be no remembrance
by those who follow them.

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.”

I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned many herds of cattle and flocks, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me.

Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the man be like who comes after the king? He will do what has already been done.

I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

When there is a man whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong.

because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from Him?

For to the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Who knows if the spirit of people rises upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?

I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?

Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them.

So I admired the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive.

But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “So who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself from good?” This too is futile and a miserable task.

For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.

Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer pays attention to warnings.

I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow a second youth who succeeds him.

There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile.

When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?

This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does the one gain who struggles for the wind?

What advantage then does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others?

Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what man is. But he is not able to contend with the One stronger than he.

For who knows what is good for man in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell man what will happen after him under the sun?

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance
and an advantage to those who see the sun,

Consider the work of God,
for who can straighten out
what He has made crooked?

In my futile life I have seen everything: there is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil.

It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.

There is certainly no righteous man on the earth
who does good and never sins.

What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it?

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen?

No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape.

There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

Everything is the same for everyone: there is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as for the one who takes an oath, so for the one who fears an oath.

The one who digs a pit may fall into it,
and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

The one who quarries stones may be hurt by them;
the one who splits trees may be endangered by them.

Yet the fool multiplies words.
No one knows what will happen,
and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?

One who watches the wind will not sow,
and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Just as you don’t know the path of the wind,
or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman,
so you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.

on the day when the guardians of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
the women who grind cease because they are few,
and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly,

and the dust returns to the earth as it once was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.