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

The sun rises, and the sun goes down; to its place it hurries, and there it rises again.

The wind goes to the south and goes around to the north; around and around it goes, and on its circuit the wind returns.

What has been--it is what will be; what has been done--it is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.

There is a thing [of] which it is said, "Look at this! This is new!" [But] it already existed in ages past before us.

I applied my mind to seek and to search by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. It [is] a grievous task God has given to {humans}.

What is twisted cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said {to myself}, "Come! I will test pleasure {to see whether it is worthwhile}." But look, "This also [is] vanity!"

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

I also {explored} {the effects of indulging my flesh} with wine. My mind guiding me with wisdom, {I investigated} folly so that I might discover what [is] good under heaven for {humans} to do {during the days of their lives}.

Yet when I considered all the effort which I expended and the toil with which I toiled to do, then behold, "Everything [is] vanity and chasing wind! There is nothing profitable under the sun!"

Next, I considered wisdom, as well as delusion and folly. What can anyone [do] who will come after the king that has not already been done?

{The wise man can see where he is walking}, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that both of them suffer the same fate.

So I said {to myself}, "{If I also suffer the same fate as the fool}, {what advantage is my great wisdom}?" So I said {to myself}, "This also [is] vanity!"

Certainly no one will remember the wise man or the fool in {future generations}. When [future] days come, both will have been forgotten already. How [is it that] the wise man dies the same as the fool?

So I hated all my toil with which I have toiled under the sun, for I must leave it behind to someone who will be after me.

And who knows [whether] he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will exercise control of all [the fruit of] my toil with which I toiled wisely under the sun. This also [is] vanity!

For although a person may toil with great wisdom and skill, he must leave his reward to someone who has not toiled for it. This also [is] vanity and a great calamity.

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

All his days [are] painful, his labor [brings] grief, and his heart cannot rest at night. This also [is] vanity!

There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God!

For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him?

For to the person who [is] good in his eyes, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and heaping up only to give [it] to [him who is] pleasing to him. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

a time to bear and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to root up [what is] planted;

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.

And for anyone to eat and drink, that is, {to enjoy the fruit of all his toil}, this also is a gift of God.

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.

What is--it already was, and what will be--it already is, for {God will do what he has done.}

So I concluded that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy [the fruit of] his labor, for this is his lot in life. {For no one knows what will happen in the future.}

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.

I also realized that all [of the] toil and all [of] the skillful work that is done--it [is] envy between one man and {another}. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

{The fool refuses to work with his hands, so he has nothing to eat except his own skin}!

Sometimes a man is all alone with no companion; he also has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eye is not satisfied with wealth. [He laments,] "For whom am I toiling and depriving {myself} of pleasure?" This also [is] vanity--it is an unhappy business!

For he came out of the prison house to reign, {since he was born poor in his kingdom}.

There is no end to all the people, to all who were before him. Yet the later generation will not rejoice in him, for this also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for {he takes no pleasure} in fools. Fulfill what you vow!

It is better that you not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.

Do not let your mouth lead your flesh into sin, and do not tell the messenger that it [was] a mistake. Why anger God at your words, so that he destroys the work of your hands?

When prosperity increases, those who consume it increase. {So its owner gains nothing, except to see his wealth before it is spent}.

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?

Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and {to enjoy} all [the fruit of] the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him--for this [is] his lot.

Here is another misfortune that I have seen under the sun, and it [is] prevalent among humankind.

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!

He has neither seen nor known the sun, yet he has more rest than him.

All of a man's toil [is] for his mouth-- yet his appetite is never satisfied.

{Better to be content with what your eyes see than for your soul to constantly crave more}. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

Whatever is--it was already determined, {what will be--it has already been decided}. As for man, he cannot argue against what is more powerful than him.

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?

Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for [death is] the end of every person, and the living should take [it] to his heart.

Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For [it is] not from wisdom [that] you ask this.

Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance; {it benefits the living}.

Consider the work of God. For who is able to make straight what he made crooked?

In the day of prosperity, rejoice! But in the day of adversity, consider! For God made one in place of another so that mortals cannot find out what will happen {in the future}.

[It is] good to take hold of the one and also must not let go of the other; for whoever fears God will hold both of them secure.

All this I have tested with wisdom. I said, "I will be wise!" but {it was beyond my grasp}.

{Whatever is--it is far beyond comprehension}. Who can discover it?

What my heart sought, I did not find. Although I found one righteous man among one thousand, I did not find one [upright] woman among all these.

Do not be terrified of his presence! Go at once and do not delay when a matter [is] unpleasant, for he can do anything that he desires.

Since the word of the king [is] supreme, no one can say to him, "What are you doing?"

Surely no one knows what will be, so who can tell anyone what will happen?

Because sentence against an evil deed is not carried out quickly, the heart of {humans} fills up within them to do evil.

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}.

But it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not prolong [their] days, like the shadow; because there is no fearing {God's presence}.

There [is] a vanity that happens on earth: sometimes the righteous suffer what the wicked deserve, and sometimes the wicked receive what the righteous deserve. I said, "This also [is] vanity!"

So I recommend enjoyment. For there [is] nothing better for man under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice. This will accompany him in his toil the days of his life that God gives to him under the sun.

Then I saw all the work of God--man [is] not able to discover the work that is done under the sun. Although man may toil in seeking, he cannot find it. Even if a wise man claims [that he] knows it, he cannot find it.

So all this I laid to my heart, and I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, [are] in the hand of God. So no one knows anything that will [come] to them, whether [it will be] love or hatred.

What they loved and hated, as well as what they desired, has already perished. They no longer have any share in what is done under the sun.

Go--eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart! For God already has approved your deeds.

Always be clothed in white garments, and never let your head lack oil!

Whatever your hand finds to do--do [it] with [all] your might; for in Sheol--where you are going--no one works, plans, knows, or thinks about anything.

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.

I have also seen this [example of] wisdom under the sun, and it [seemed] great to me.

[There was] a small city with few people in it. A great king came and besieged it, building great siege works against it.

Now, a poor wise man was found in it, and he delivered the city by his wisdom.

So I concluded that wisdom [is] better than might, yet the wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard.

There is an evil I have seen under the sun-- [it is] an error that proceeds from a ruler!

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it. Whoever breaks through a wall, a snake will bite him.

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.

He begins by saying what is foolish and ends by uttering what is wicked delusion.

The fool {talks too much}, for no one knows what will be. Who can tell anyone what will happen {in the future}?

The fool is so worn out by a hard day's work {he cannot even find his way home at night}.

Blessed are you, O land, when your king is a son of nobility and your princes feast at the proper time-- to gain strength and not to get drunk.

Send out your bread on the water, for in many days you will find it.

Divide your share in seven or in eight, for you do not know what disaster will happen on the earth.

When the clouds are full, they empty rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or whether it falls to the north, the place where the tree falls--there it will be.

Sow your seed in the morning, and do not let your hands rest in the evening, for you do not know what will prosper-- whether this or that, or whether both of them alike will succeed.

The light is sweet, and it [is] pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken; and the jar at the foundation is broken, and the wheel at the cistern is broken.

And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

The Teacher sought to find delightful words, and he wrote what is upright--truthful words.