Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is empty,
but an abundant harvest comes
through the strength of an ox.

Fools mock at making restitution,
but there is goodwill among the upright.

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.

A poor man is hated even by his neighbor,
but there are many who love the rich.

There is profit in all hard work,
but endless talk leads only to poverty.

Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
than a fattened ox with hatred.

Plans fail when there is no counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.

When a king’s face lights up, there is life;
his favor is like a cloud with spring rain.

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.

A man with many friends may be harmed,
but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

>

All the brothers of a poor man hate him;
how much more do his friends
keep their distance from him!
He may pursue them with words,
but they are not there.

Discipline your son while there is hope;
don’t be intent on killing him.

The slacker does not plow during planting season;
at harvest time he looks, and there is nothing.

There is gold and a multitude of jewels,
but knowledgeable lips are a rare treasure.

There are thorns and snares on the path of the crooked;
the one who guards himself stays far from them.

The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside!
I’ll be killed in the public square!”

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road—
a lion in the public square!”

When he speaks graciously, don’t believe him,
for there are seven abominations in his heart.

there will be enough goat’s milk for your food—
food for your household
and nourishment for your female servants.

>

When the righteous triumph,
there is great rejoicing,
but when the wicked come to power,
people hide themselves.

If a wise man goes to court with a fool,
there will be ranting and raving but no resolution.

Do you see a man who speaks too soon?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

There is a generation that curses its father
and does not bless its mother.

There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
yet is not washed from its filth.

There is a generation—how haughty its eyes
and pretentious its looks.

There is a generation whose teeth are swords,
whose fangs are knives,
devouring the oppressed from the land
and the needy from among mankind.

All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
The streams are flowing to the place,
and they flow there again.

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.

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.

When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.

For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise man dies just like the fool?

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.

There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

There is an occasion for everything,
and a time for every activity under heaven:

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the good life.

I know that all God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of Him.

I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness.

I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.”

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?

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.

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.

There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

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?

For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for man?

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.

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

For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though man’s troubles are heavy on him.

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.

So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

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.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.

But there is hope for whoever is joined with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten.

Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it.

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

If the snake bites before it is charmed,
then there is no advantage for the charmer.

If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth;
whether a tree falls to the south or the north,
the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.

There are 60 queens
and 80 concubines
and young women without number.

Let’s go early to the vineyards;
let’s see if the vine has budded,
if the blossom has opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.

Y Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?

W I awakened you under the apricot tree.
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.

Their land is full of silver and gold,
and there is no limit to their treasures;
their land is full of horses,
and there is no limit to their chariots.

Instead of perfume there will be a stench;
instead of a belt, a rope;
instead of beautifully styled hair, baldness;
instead of fine clothes, sackcloth;
instead of beauty, branding.

Then the Lord will create a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night over the entire site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies. For there will be a canopy over all the glory,

and there will be a booth for shade from heat by day, and a refuge and shelter from storm and rain.

He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with the finest vines.
He built a tower in the middle of it
and even dug out a winepress there.
He expected it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes.

Woe to those who add house to house
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.

On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds.

And on that day
every place where there were 1,000 vines,
worth 1,000 pieces of silver,
will become thorns and briers.

A man will go there with bow and arrows
because the whole land will be thorns and briers.

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.

There will be nothing to do
except crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
In all this, His anger is not removed,
and His hand is still raised to strike.

There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
who will survive from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.

It will never be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation;
a nomad will not pitch his tent there,
and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.

But desert creatures will lie down there,
and owls will fill the houses.
Ostriches will dwell there,
and wild goats will leap about.

Wail, you gates! Cry out, city!
Tremble with fear, all Philistia!
For a cloud of dust is coming from the north,
and there is no one missing from the invader’s ranks.

On that day their strong cities will be
like the abandoned woods and mountaintops
that were abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.

On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the center of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord near her border.

On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. Assyria will go to Egypt, Egypt to Assyria, and Egypt will worship with Assyria.

You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David. You collected water from the lower pool.

wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be—a disgrace to the house of your lord.

Overflow your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;
there is no longer anything to restrain you.

He said,
“You will not rejoice anymore,
ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon.
Get up and cross over to Cyprus—
even there you will have no rest!”

For the fortified city will be deserted,
pastures abandoned and forsaken like a wilderness.
Calves will graze there,
and there they will spread out and strip its branches.

Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit;
there is no place without a stench.

For he says: “Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.”

Then the word of the Lord came to them:
“Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there,”
so they go stumbling backward,
to be broken, trapped, and captured.

I will oppress Ariel,
and there will be mourning and crying,
and she will be to Me like an Ariel.

There will be times of security for you—
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.

For the majestic One, our Lord, will be there,
a place of rivers and broad streams
where ships that are rowed will not go,
and majestic vessels will not pass.

and none there will say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell there
will be forgiven their iniquity.

The desert owl and the screech owl will possess it,
and the great owl and the raven will dwell there.
The Lord will stretch out a measuring line
and a plumb line over her
for her destruction and chaos.

The desert creatures will meet hyenas,
and one wild goat will call to another.
Indeed, the screech owl will stay there
and will find a resting place for herself.

The sand partridge will make her nest there;
she will lay and hatch her eggs
and will gather her brood under her shadow.
Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there,
each with its mate.

the parched ground will become a pool of water,
and the thirsty land springs of water.
In the haunt of jackals, in their lairs,
there will be grass, reeds, and papyrus.