What does a person gain in all his toil with which he toils under the sun?

I said of laughter, "[It is] folly!" and of pleasure, "{What does it accomplish?}"

For what does a person receive for all his toil and in the longing of his heart with which he toils under the sun?

What does the worker gain in his toil?

He has made everything suitable in its time. He also has put {the past} in their hearts, yet no one can grasp what God does from the beginning to the end.

I know everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it, for God so acts that humans might stand in awe before him.

The sleep of the laborer [is] pleasant, whether he eats little or much, but the wealth of the rich man does not allow him to rest.

This also [is] a grievous illness. Exactly as he came, so he will go. What profit [does] he gain for all his toil for the wind?

For he does not remember the [brief] days of his life, for God keeps his heart preoccupied with enjoyment [of life].

God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; yet God does not enable him to enjoy it--instead someone else ends up enjoying it. This [is] vanity--indeed, it [is] a grievous ill!

Even if a man fathers a hundred [children] and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his heart is not satisfied with {his prosperity} and {he does not receive a proper burial}, I deem the stillborn better than him.

Even if a man lives a thousand years twice, if he does not enjoy {prosperity}, {both suffer the same fate}!

{Increasing words only multiplies futility}, how does that profit anyone?

Surely there is no one righteous on the earth who [continually] does good and never sins.

Although the sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will be good for those who fear God--because they fear {his presence}.

I looked again and saw under the sun that the race [does] not [belong] to the swift, the battle [does] not [belong] to the mighty, food [does] not [belong] to the wise, wealth [does] not [belong] to the intelligent, and success [does] not [belong] to the skillful, for time and chance befalls all of them.

For man does not know his time. Just as fish are caught in a cruel net and like birds who are seized in a snare, so also {humans} are ensnared at a cruel time when it falls suddenly upon them.

If the ax is blunt but one does not sharpen its edge, {he must exert more effort}, but the advantage of wisdom [is] it brings success.