What is the profit to a man in all his labor which he labors under the sun?

The sun also arises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it arose.

The wind goes toward the south, and it turns around to the north; it whirls around continually; and the wind returns on its circuits.

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; to the place from where the rivers come, there they return again.

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

Is there a thing of which it may be said, See, this is new? It has already been in days of old, which were before us.

There is no memory of former things, and also no memory of after things which shall be; for neither shall be a remembrance of them with those who will be at the afterwards.

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.

What is crooked cannot be made straight; and that lacking cannot be numbered.

I said of laughter, It is madness; and of mirth, What does it do?

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.

And I turned to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king, when they have already done it?

Then I said in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it happens even to me; and why was I then more wise? And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

Yes, I hated all my labor which I had done under the sun; that I must leave it to the man who shall be after me.

And who knows whether he shall be wise or a fool? Yet he shall have rule over all my labor in which I have labored, and acted wisely under the sun. This is also vanity.

When there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and with success; yet to a man who has not labored in it, he shall leave it for his share. This also is vanity and a great evil.

For what has man from all his labor, and from the troubling of his heart, in which he has labored under the sun?

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 who can eat, or who can enjoy, apart from me?

a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pull up what is planted;

What profit does he have who works in that in which he labors?

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.

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.

Therefore I have seen that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what shall be after him?

Yea, better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

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.

For out of prison he comes to reign; although in his kingdom he was born poor.

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.

it is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.

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?

If you see the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter. For He who is higher than the highest watches; and there are some higher than they.

And the advantage of a land, it is for all; even a king has a field being tilled.

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?

And this also is a sore evil, that in all, as he came, so shall he go; and what profit does he have who has labored for the wind?

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.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is great among men:

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.

For he comes in with vanity and goes out in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

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

All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

For what has the wise more than the fool? What gain has the poor who knows how to walk before the living?

That which has been is named already, and it is known that he is man. And he is not able to contend with Him who is mightier than he.

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

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?

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning of it; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Do not say, Why was it that the former days were better than these? For you do not ask wisely in regard to this.

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

For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

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

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.

All this I have proved by wisdom; I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

That which is far off and exceedingly deep, who can find it out?

I set my heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness;

Behold, this I have found, says the Preacher, counting one by one, to find out the sum,

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

Because the word of a king is that which has power; and who may say to him, What are you doing?

For he does not know what shall be; for who can tell him when it shall be?

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.

There is a vanity which is done on the earth: There are just ones to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked ones to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

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.

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

Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave where you go.

I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all.

For man also does not know his time; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them.

This wisdom I have seen also under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

There was a little city, and few men in it; and a great king came against it and besieged it, and built huge bulwarks against it.

And a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that poor man.

A man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left.

He who digs a pit shall fall into it; and whoever breaks a hedge, a snake shall bite him.

Whoever removes stones shall be hurt with them. He who splits wood shall be endangered by it.

If the iron is blunt, and he does not whet the edge, then he must put more strength to it. But wisdom is profitable to direct.

A fool also makes many words; a man knows not what they shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and your leaders eat in the morning.

Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your leaders eat in due time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days.

Give a share to seven, and also to eight; for you know not what evil shall be on the earth.

If the clouds are full of rain, they empty on 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.

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.

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know what shall be blessed, either this or that, or whether they both shall be fruitful in the same way.

Also the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun;

but if a man lives many years, and rejoices in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.

in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men are bowed, and the grinders cease because there are few, and those who look out of the windows are darkened,

and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and you shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music are silenced;

or ever the silver cord is not loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern;

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

The preacher sought to find out pleasing words; and words of truth written by the upright.

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