These are the words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.

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

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.

All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it : the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

There is no remembrance of the former generations ; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.

And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this severe burden has God given to the sons of man to be afflicted with.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

So I thought in my heart, to withdraw my flesh from wine, to apply my mind unto wisdom, and to comprehend foolishness until the time that among all the things which are under the Sun, I might see what were best for men to do, so long as they live under heaven.

I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood, where the trees are reared.

Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded: "All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless -- like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained from them on earth."

The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all.

So I thought to myself, "The fate of the fool will happen even to me! Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?" So I lamented to myself, "The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!"

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 loathed life because what happens on earth seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom are futile -- like chasing the wind.

For all his days are but'sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.

and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift 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, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.

For the fate of {humans} and the fate of the beast is {the same}. The death of the one is like the death of the other, for {both are mortal}. Man has no advantage over the beast, for both are fleeting.

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

Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

Wherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living that are yet alive;

But better [off] than both of them is the one who has not yet been born and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then,'saith he , do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

So again, if two are sleeping together they are warm, but how may one be warm by himself?

And two attacked by one would be safe, and three cords twisted together are not quickly broken.

I have seen all the living, who are walking under the sun, with the second youth who doth stand in his place;

As for the people that have been before him, and that come after him, they are innumerable: yet is not their joy the greater through him. This is also a vain thing and a vexation of mind. (v17) When thou comest into the house of God, keep thy foot and draw nigh, that thou mayest hear: that is better than the offerings of fools, for they know not what evil they do

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to draw near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.

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.

Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words.

For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words: but fear thou God.

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they.

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding of them with his eyes?

But those riches are lost by a bad venture: when he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.

All his days are in the dark, and he has much sorrow, pain, disease, and trouble.

To every man whom God has given wealth, and possessions, he has also given him the ability to eat from them, to receive his reward and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things are the gift of God.

a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the power or capacity to enjoy them [all those things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] enjoys them. This is vanity and it is a [cause of] great distress.

If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:

because stillborn children arrive in pointlessness, leave in darkness, and their names are covered in darkness.

Furthermore, though they never saw the sun nor learned anything, they are more content than the other.

And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?

Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

For who knows what [is] good for a man in his life during the few days of his fleeting life, which are fleeting as a shadow? For who can tell anyone what will happen {in the future} under the sun?

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

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

When times are good, be joyful; when times are bad, consider this: God made the one as well as the other, so people won't seek anything outside of his best.

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.

Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers that are in a city.

Also take not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee;

And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.

Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What are you doing?

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

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

And so I have seen the wicked buried, and they went in, even from the Holy Place they go, and they are forgotten in the city whether they had so done. This also is vanity.

Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, who fear before him:

but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

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),

I understood of all the works of God, that it is not possible for a man, to attain unto works that are done under the Sun: and though he bestow his labour to seek them out, yet can he not reach unto them: yea, though a wise man would undertake to know them, yet might he not find them.

For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them.

Everyone shares the same fate -- the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the ceremonially clean and unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.

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

The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them.

Their love and their hate and their envy are now ended; and they have no longer a part for ever in anything which is done under the sun.

Go your way, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart [if you are righteous, wise, and in the hands of God]; for God has already approved and accepted your works.

Whatever comes to your hand to do with all your power, do it because there is no work, or thought, or knowledge, or wisdom in the place of the dead to which you are going.

Again, I observed this on the earth: the race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge -- for time and chance may overcome them all.

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

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

The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low.

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

The first words of his mouth are foolish, and the end of his talk is evil crime.

The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?

Unhappy is the land whose king is a boy, and whose rulers are feasting in the morning.

Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

For mirth they are making a feast, And wine maketh life joyful, And the silver answereth with all.

Do not curse a king even in your thoughts, and do not curse the rich while in your bedroom; for a bird might report what you are thinking, or some winged creature might repeat your words.

If the clouds are full of rain, they 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 be.

Now, like as thou knowest not the way of the wind, nor how the bones are filled in a mother's womb: Even so thou knowest not the works of God, which is the workmaster of all.

In the morning put your seed into the earth, and till the evening let not your hand be at rest; because you are not certain which will do well, this or that--or if the two will be equally good.

But, if man liveth many years, In all of them let him rejoice, And remember the days of darkness, For they are many! all that is coming is vanity.

Have joy, O young man, while you are young; and let your heart be glad in the days of your strength, and go in the ways of your heart, and in the desire of your eyes; but be certain that for all these things God will be your judge.

Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Let your mind be turned to your Maker in the days of your strength, while the evil days come not, and the years are far away when you will say, I have no pleasure in them;

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

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 shall be darkened,

When the doors are shut in the street, and the sound of the crushing is low, and the voice of the bird is soft, and the daughters of music will be made low;

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors are in the way, and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets:

All things are to no purpose, says the Preacher, all is to no purpose.

The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.