For all things there is a season, and every will under the heaven has its time determined.

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 the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

Two are better than one because they have a better reward for their labour.

a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

The conclusion of the entire sermon is heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole happiness of man.

He has made every thing beautiful in his time: even the world he has given over to their will, in such a way that no man can attain to this work that God makes from the beginning to the end.

What profit does a man have of all his labour which he takes under the sun?

For the living know that they shall die, but the dead do not know any thing; neither do they have any more reward, for their memory is placed into oblivion.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days do not come nor the years draw near when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Whatever thy hand finds to do, do it with all thy might, for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, where thou goest.

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was ignorance. Why should thou cause God to be angry because of thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands?

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and he who has suffered in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.

The sun arises, and the sun goes down, and with desire returns to his place from which he arises again.

The wind goes toward the south and turns about unto the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to its circuits.

All things are full of labour; more than man can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing.

The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh.

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

Because dreams abound, and vanities and the words are many, but fear thou God.

I proposed in my heart to regale my flesh with wine and that my heart would walk in wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

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 sore travail God has given to the sons of man that they be occupied in it).

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.

And I gave my heart to know wisdom and knowledge and to know folly and those who are mad; I learned in the end that this also is vexation of spirit.

That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is lacking cannot be numbered.

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

I communed with my own heart, saying, Behold, I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all those that have been before me in Jerusalem; and my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

Better is a handful with rest than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

If thou seest violence unto the poor and the extortion of rights and justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter, for height is looking upon height; and there is one higher than they.

For knowledge is a defence, and money is a defence; but wisdom excels in that it gives life to those that have it.

If the serpent bites without being enchanted, then the babbler is no more.

For man also does not know his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in the evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.

Never say, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.

a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

The words from the mouth of the wise man are grace, but the lips of the fool will swallow up himself.

It is the man who is alone, without a successor, who has neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity and sore travail.

Knowledge is good with an inheritance and is the excellency of those that see the sun.

Then I also saw that the wicked who were buried came into remembrance more than those who had frequented the holy place, and these were forgotten in the city where they had worked uprightly. This also is vanity.

All the labour of man is for his mouth, and with all this the appetite is not filled.

Then I returned, and I saw another vanity under the sun.

a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit does the one that works have in that in which he labours?

I made myself great works; I built myself houses; I planted myself vineyards;

In the day of good enjoy that which is good, but in the day of adversity open your eyes and learn: God also has made the one (the day of adversity) before the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

Consider the work of God; for who can make straight that which he has twisted?

Therefore I commended joy because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished.

So I returned and considered all the violence that is done under the sun and behold the tears of such as are oppressed, and they have no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but the oppressed had no comforter.

The fool multiplies words and says, Man cannot tell what shall be, and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

That which has been is now, and that which is to be has already been and God shall seek that which is past.

Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes banquet in the morning!

The preacher sought to find willing words and upright writings, even words of truth.

now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no one remembered that same poor man.

I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time determined to judge every will and regarding everything that is done.

Though a sinner does evil one hundred times and his judgment is prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those that fear God, who fear before his presence;

I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts one to another.

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

Therefore I hated life because every work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all was vanity and vexation of spirit.

And there is higher authority in all of the things of the earth, but he who serves the field is king.

Do not curse the king, not even in thy thought; and do not curse the rich even in the secret place of thy bedchamber; for the birds of the air shall carry the voice, and those who have wings shall tell the matter.

which are lost by evil pursuits and to the sons which he has begotten; there is nothing left in his hand.

Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season for strength, and not for drunkenness!

The words of the wise are as goads and as nails hammered into place, those of the teachers of the congregations, who are placed under one Shepherd.

Therefore I applied mine heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is he that neither day nor night sees sleep with his eyes).

There is another vanity which is done upon the earth: that there are just men, who are recompensed as if they had done according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, who are recompensed as if they had done according to the work of the righteous; I say that this also is vanity.

For what has the wise more than the fool? what more has the poor that knows how to walk among the living?

Certainly I applied my heart unto all of this that I might declare all of 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 passes before them.

And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour, and this was my portion of all my labour.

Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun, which I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

By much slothfulness the building decays, and through idleness of the hands the rain drips throughout the house.

I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, which is important unto me:

but it shall never be well with the wicked, neither shall his days be prolonged, which are as a shadow, because he did not fear before the presence of God.

I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of men that they may be occupied in it.

The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that rules among fools.

Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength: even though the poor man's knowledge is despised, and his words are not heard.

There was a little city and few men within it; and a great king came against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it;

There is no end of all the people that have been before them; those also that come after shall not be content in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

I have understood that whatever God does, it shall be for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it because God does it that men should fear before him.

In addition to this, all the days of his life he shall eat in darkness, with much wrath and pain and sorrow sickness.

Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Also do not take to heart all the words that are spoken lest thou hear thy slave speak evil of thee:

Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten mighty men who are in the city.

I have learned that there is nothing better for them, but to rejoice and to do good in his life.

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 are darkened;

It is better to enjoy the good that is present than the wandering of desire; this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

When goods increase, those that eat them are increased; and what good is there to the owners thereof, except the beholding of them with their eyes?

and the doors outside shall be shut because the voice of the grinder is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of song shall be humbled;

The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

It is good that thou should take hold of this; and also from the other not withdraw thy hand; for he that fears God shall come through with everything.

I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits;

and I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands are bonds; whosoever pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be held prisoner in her.

Who knows that the spirit of the sons of men goes upward and that the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth?

when they shall also be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and appetite shall fail: because man goes to the home of his age, and the mourners shall go about the streets;

And this also is a sore evil; that in all points as he came, so shall he go; and what profit has he that has laboured for the wind?

I made myself pools of water, to water with them the forest that brings forth trees;

And moreover I saw under the sun that instead of judgment, there was wickedness; and instead of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy good things; and, behold, this also is vanity.

And I turned myself to behold wisdom and those who are mad, and folly; for what can the man do that comes after the king? even that which has already been done.

before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain:

I gathered unto myself also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I obtained men singers and women singers and all the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and those of all sorts.

Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.

before the silver chain is broken, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel is broken at the cistern;

All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perishes for his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongs his days by his wickedness.

And the wiser the preacher became that much more did he teach wisdom to the people, causing them to listen and to search things out, and he composed many proverbs.

So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem, and more than that, my wisdom remained with me.

And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labour; it is the gift of God.

The labour of the foolish wearies all of them because they do not know how to go to the city.

The banquet is made for pleasure, and wine makes merry; but money answers all things.

There is another sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;

Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: likewise a small act of folly unto him that is esteemed for wisdom and honour.

I got myself slaves and maidens and had sons born in my house; also I had great possessions of cattle and sheep above all that were in Jerusalem before me;

At last I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do; and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Again, if two sleep together, then they have heat, but how can one be warm alone?

As thou dost not know what is the way of the spirit nor how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child, even so thou dost not know the works of God who makes all.

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Do not be hasty to condemn, neither be thou foolish: why should thou die in the midst of thy labours?

That which has been is far off and that which is exceeding deep, who can find it out?

Do not be too legalistic; neither make thyself over wise in thine own eyes: why should thou destroy thyself?

The sleep of the servant is sweet whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

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 labour. I also have seen that this is from the hand of God.

As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all shall turn to dust again.

The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness: And I myself also understood that one event happens to the one and to the other.

When thou dost vow a vow unto God, do not defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools; pay that which thou hast vowed.

For God gives to the man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to the one that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun,

He that observes the wind shall not sow, and he that regards the clouds shall not reap.

a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

Do not be rash with thy mouth and do not let thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God, for God is in heaven and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few.

For what does man have of all his labour and of the vexation of his heart in which he has laboured under the sun?

Behold therefore the good which I have seen: that good is to eat and to drink and to enjoy of the good of all his labour that he takes under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him; for it is his portion.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, either this or that or whether they both shall be equally good.

And I have seen that wisdom excels folly as far as light excels darkness.

Therefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh; for childhood and youth are vanity.

Give a portion to seven and even to eight, for thou dost not know what evil shall come upon the earth.

If the spirit of the ruler rises up against thee, do not leave thy place; for meekness pacifies great sins.

For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever, seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And also the wise man shall die the same as the fool.

He that digs a pit shall fall into it, and whosoever breaks a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

Who is as the wise man? and who is as he who knows the interpretation of all things? The wisdom of this man shall make his face to shine, and the coarseness of his face shall be changed.

I saw slaves upon horses, and princes walking as slaves upon the earth.

Even when the fool walks by the way, he lacks prudence, and he says unto every one that he is a fool.

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

There is another evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceeds from the ruler:

Then I said in my heart, As it shall happen to the fool, so it shall happen even to me. Why have I worked until now to make myself wiser? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

For he came out of prison to reign, even though he was born poor into his kingdom.

but if a man lives many years and rejoices in them all; yet if afterwards he remembers the days of darkness, for they shall be many, he shall say that everything that shall have happened to him is vanity.

Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made whole.

I said of laughter, It is mad, and of mirth, What does it do?

Likewise, unto every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also given him power to eat thereof and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

For out of much preoccupation comes the dream, and the voice of the fool out of a multitude of words.

Again, I considered all travail and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

Whosoever moves the stones shall have tribulation along with it, and he that cuts the firewood shall be endangered by it.

If the iron is blunt, and he does not whet the edge, then he must put forth more strength, but the advantages of wisdom excel.

There is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death, and weapons are of no use in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

That the man who worked with wisdom and with knowledge and with uprightness would have to leave his portion to a man that has not laboured therein. This also is vanity and a great evil.

And I have seen regarding all the works of God that man cannot attain to understand the work that is being done under the sun, because though a man labours to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; even though the wise man says that he knows it, yet he shall not be able to attain it.

I applied my heart to know and to search and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the madness of error;

Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich are seated in a low place.

It is better that thou should not vow than that thou should vow and not pay.

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou dost love all the days which thou art to live in this lake of vanity, which are given unto thee; all the days of thy vanity under the sun: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour in which thou dost work under the sun.

For who can eat, or who can care for himself better than I?

Therefore I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive.

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

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

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

He that is has been named already; and it is known that he is man and that he shall not be able to contend with him that is mightier than he.

There is another evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is very common among men:

I saw all the living who are under the sun walking with the child, the successor that shall stand up in his stead.

For thine own heart knows that thou thyself likewise hast spoken evil of others many times.

Surely oppression makes a wise man mad, and a gift destroys the heart.

To such a one, God will remove the concerns common to others, for God shall answer him with joy from his heart.

Therefore my heart began to despair again regarding all the labour which I took under the sun.

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

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Go, eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a joyful heart that thy works might be acceptable unto God.

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

And I thought that better is he than both of them who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil works that are done under the sun.

For who knows what is good for man in this life, all the days of the life of his vanity which he causes to be as a shadow? for who shall teach the man what shall be after him under the sun?

Behold, this I have found, saith the preacher, weighing things one by one to find out the answer,

Because for every will there is time and judgment, because the evil of man is great upon him,

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

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

and the dust returns to the earth as it was before and the spirit returns unto God who gave it.

Certainly the many words multiply vanity, what more does man have?

The laughter of the fool is as the crackling of thorns under a pot, and this also (the laughter or prosperity of the fool) is vanity.

I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment and the word of the covenant that thou hast made with God.

because the word of the king is his power and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

Whosoever keeps the commandment shall experience no evil thing, and a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment.

for he does not know that which shall be; nor when it shall be. Who will teach it to him?

A man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honour so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but the strangers eat it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

Do not be hasty to rebel against him; do not persist in any evil thing, for he shall do whatsoever pleases him;

For surely there is not a just man upon earth that in doing good does not sin.

For to him that is still among the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean; to him that sacrifices and to him that does not sacrifice: as unto the good so unto the sinner; and unto him that swears as unto him that fears the oath.

If a man begets a hundred sons and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his soul is not filled with good and also that he have no burial; I say that an aborted birth is better than he.

Even their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion in the age in any thing that is done under the sun.

For though the other should live a thousand years twice and has not enjoyed good; both shall surely go to the same place.

Even though he has not seen the sun nor known any thing; this one has more rest than the other.

For he came in vain and departs unto darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left.

Thy garments shall always be white, and thy head shall never lack ointment.

Do not be hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

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

A good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of prudence, nor yet grace to men of eloquence; but time and chance happens to them all.

One generation passes away, and another generation comes, but the earth abides for ever.

And if one prevails against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

My son, in addition to this, be admonished: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

For God shall bring every work to judgment with every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.

For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even one thing befalls them: as the one dies, so dies the other; and they all have one breath; so that a man has no more breath than a beast: for all is vanity.

Behold, this only have I found: that God has made man upright, but they have sought out many perversions.

Watch thy feet when thou goest to the house of God and draw near with more willingness to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know how to do what God wants.