All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.

What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?

One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.

All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, there they go again.

That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.

Is there anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was before us.

There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.

And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.

I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.

That which is bent may not be made straight, and that which is not there may not be numbered.

Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.

Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy--What use is it?

Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways--as the light is better than the dark.

The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.

Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.

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!

So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.

And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.

Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.

All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is to no purpose.

There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.

To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

For everything there is a fixed time, and a time for every business under the sun.

He has made everything right in its time; but he has made their hearts without knowledge, so that man is unable to see the works of God, from the first to the last.

I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.

And for every man to take food and drink, and have joy in all his work, is a reward from God.

Whatever is has been before, and what is to be is now; because God makes search for the things which are past.

I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.

Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.

Who is certain that the spirit of the sons of men goes up to heaven, or that the spirit of the beasts goes down to the earth?

So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.

And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

One hand full of rest is better than two hands full of trouble and desire for wind.

Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.

It is one who is by himself, without a second, and without son or brother; but there is no end to all his work, and he has never enough of wealth. For whom, then, am I working and keeping myself from pleasure? This again is to no purpose, and a bitter work.

And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper.

A young man who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish and will not be guided by the wisdom of others.

There was no end of all the people, of all those whose head he was, but they who come later will have no delight in him. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.

Be not unwise with your mouth, and let not your heart be quick to say anything before God, because God is in heaven and you are on the earth--so let not the number of your words be great.

As a dream comes from much business, so the voice of a foolish man comes with words in great number.

It is better not to take an oath than to take an oath and not keep it.

If you see the poor under a cruel yoke, and law and right being violently overturned in a country, be not surprised, because one authority is keeping watch on another and there are higher than they.

It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.

He who has a love for silver never has enough silver, or he who has love for wealth, enough profit. This again is to no purpose.

When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?

The sleep of a working man is sweet, if he has little food or much; but to him who is full, sleep will not come.

There is a great evil which I have seen under the sun--wealth kept by the owner to be his downfall.

As he came from his mother at birth, so does he go again; he gets from his work no reward which he may take away in his hand.

And this again is a great evil, that in all points as he came so will he go; and what profit has he in working for the wind?

This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.

Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;

A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.

If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.

Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.

All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.

What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?

What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.

There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?

Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?

A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.

It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.

Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.

The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.

It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.

The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.

The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.

Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.

Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.

Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.

These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.

Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?

It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.

Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.

There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.

All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.

Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?

I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.

And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.

For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.

Who is like the wise man? and to whom is the sense of anything clear? A man's wisdom makes his face shining, and his hard face will be changed.

Be not quick to go from before him. Be not fixed in an evil design, because he does whatever is pleasing to him.

The word of a king has authority; and who may say to him, What is this you are doing?

Whoever keeps the law will come to no evil: and a wise man's heart has knowledge of time and of decision.

For every purpose there is a time and a decision, because the sorrow of man is great in him.

No one is certain what is to be, and who is able to say to him when it will be?

No man has authority over the wind, to keep the wind; or is ruler over the day of his death. In war no man's time is free, and evil will not keep the sinner safe.

All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.

And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life is long, I am certain that it will be well for those who go in fear of God and are in 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.

So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

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),

Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.

All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.

Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.