All things are wearisome;
man is unable to speak.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing
or the ear filled with hearing.

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.

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

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.

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.

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?

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.

a time to tear and a time to sew;
a time to be silent and a time to speak;

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.

Whatever is, has already been, and whatever will be, already is. God repeats what has passed.

For he came from prison to be king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.

Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them.

The profit from the land is taken by all; the king is served by the field.

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

Here is what I have seen to be good: it is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.

A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives, if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.

Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,
for anger abides in the heart of fools.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

Don’t pay attention to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,

I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me.

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.

“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation,

Keep the king’s command because of your oath made before God.

Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence, and don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants.

Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.

Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

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.

In the morning sow your seed,
and at evening do not let your hand rest,
because you don’t know which will succeed,
whether one or the other,
or if both of them will be equally good.

Indeed, if a man lives many years,
let him rejoice in them all,
and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many.
All that comes is futile.

Rejoice, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth.
And walk in the ways of your heart
and in the sight of your eyes;
but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.

The sayings of the wise are like goads, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd.

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