And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all which is done under the heavens. It is a sad task God has given to the sons of men to be humbled by it.

I sought in my heart to drag my flesh with wine, yet leading my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see where the good for the sons of men might be, what they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.

I also gathered silver and gold to myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got men singers and women singers for myself, and the delights of the sons of men, a wife and very many wives.

Is it not good that he should eat and drink and make his soul see good in his labor? This I also saw, that it was from the hand of God.

For God gives wisdom, and knowledge, and joy to a man who is good in His sight. But to the sinner He gives labor, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men to be humbled by it.

He has made everything beautiful in His time; also He has set eternity in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end.

I know that there is no good in them, but to rejoice and to do good in his life.

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

I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God does it so that they fear before Him.

That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been; and God requires that which is past.

I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

I said in my heart concerning the matter of sons of men, that God might reveal them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he has neither son nor brother; yet there is no end to all his labor; and his eyes are not satisfied with riches; and he says, For whom do I labor and take good from my soul? This is also vanity. Yes, it is an evil business.

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

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools. For they do not know that they are doing evil.

Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not let your heart be hasty to say a word before God. For God is in Heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

When you vow a vow to God, do not wait to pay it. For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you have vowed.

Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; do not say before the angel that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

For in the multitude of dreams, both words and vanities abound; but fear God.

When the good thing increases, those who eat it increase; then what profit is it to its owners, except to see it with their eyes?

Behold that which I have seen. it is good and right for one to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labor that he labors under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him; for it is his portion.

Also every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God answers him in the joy of his heart.

a man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, 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 a stranger eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

If a man fathers a hundred, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also is for him no burial; I say, a miscarriage is better than he.

Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet he has seen no good. Do not all go to one place?

For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

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

Wisdom is good with an inheritance; but it is gain to those who see the sun.

Consider the work of God; for who can make straight what He has made crooked?

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity take note that God also has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

It is good that you should take hold of this; yea, also from this do not withdraw your hand; for he who fears God shall come forth from all of them.

For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.

and I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands like bands. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.

Lo, this only I have found, that God has made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.

I say, Keep the king's word, and that, because of the oath of God.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days be made longer, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.

But it shall not be well with the wicked, nor shall he make his days longer like a shadow; because he does not fear before God.

Then I praised gladness, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be glad; for that shall go with him of his labor for the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

Then I looked at all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea, further, though a wise one speaks of knowing, yet he shall not be able to find it.

For all this I took to heart, even to make all this clear, 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 is before them.

All happens 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 who sacrifices, and to him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner. He who swears is as he who fears an oath.

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God now is pleased with your works.

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

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

As you do not know what is the way of the spirit, as how the bones grow in the pregnant woman's womb; even so you do not know the works of God who makes all.

Rejoice, in your youth, young man; and let your heart cheer you 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 these things God will bring you into judgment.

then the dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man.

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