What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?

Is there anything, whereof it may be said, "Lo, this is new?" For it was long ago in the times that have been before us.

There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.

I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that hath been done under the heavens. It is a sad travail God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this is vexation of spirit;

Then said I thus in my heart, "Now go to, I will take mine ease and have good days." But lo, that was vanity also:

I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where is this -- the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.

And look whatsoever mine eyes desired, I let them have it: and wherein soever my heart delighted, or had any pleasure, I withheld it not from it. Thus my heart rejoiced in all that I did, and this I took for the portion of all my travail.

and I have looked on all my works that my hands have done, and on the labour that I have laboured to do, and lo, the whole is vanity and vexation of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun!

And I turned to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what is the man who cometh after the king? that which is already -- they have done it!

Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.

For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!

And I have hated life, for sad to me is the work that hath been done under the sun, for the whole is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.

And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.

For what will man have of all his labour and of the striving of his heart, wherewith he hath wearied himself under the sun?

There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?

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

I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

I have known that there is no good for them except to rejoice and to do good during their life,

And for every man to take food and drink, and have joy in all his work, is a reward from God.

I have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God hath wrought that they do fear before Him.

That which was, already, had been, and, that which shall be, already, shall have been, - but, God, seeketh that which hath been chased away.

And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment -- there is the wicked; and the place of righteousness -- there is the wicked.

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.

The whole are going unto one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back unto the dust.

So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

And again I saw all the cruel things which are done under the sun; there was the weeping of those who have evil done to them, and they had no comforter: and from the hands of the evil-doers there went out power, but they had no comforter.

Wherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living that are yet alive;

And I have seen all the labour, and all the benefit of the work, because for it a man is the envy of his neighbour. Even this is vanity and vexation of spirit.

It's better to have one handful of tranquility than to have two handfuls of trouble and to chase after the wind.

And I have turned, and I see a vain thing under the sun:

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

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn't have another to lift him up.

Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone ?

I have seen all the living, who are walking under the sun, with the second youth who doth stand in his place;

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after him shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and grasping after the wind.

When you vow a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools: pay that which you have vowed.

It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.

He that loveth money, will never be satisfied with money: and whoso delighteth in riches, shall have no profit thereof. Is not this also a vain thing?

In the multiplying of good have its consumers been multiplied, and what benefit is to its possessor except the sight of his eyes?

The sleep of the labourer is sweet, whether he have eaten little or much; but the fulness of the rich doth not suffer him to sleep.

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely , riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:

or those riches perish by some evil circumstance, and if he have begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.

This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion.

Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.

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

A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.

If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:

It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he.

What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?

Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.

For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellence of knowledge is, that wisdom gives life to them that have it.

In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.

All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing.

Do not be excessively or willfully wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

The wisdom giveth strength to a wise man, more than wealth the rulers who have been in a city.

For oftentimes also your own heart knows that you yourself likewise have cursed others.

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

Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?

I have turned round, also my heart, to know and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and reason, and to know the wrong of folly, and of foolishness the madness.

Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher, laying one thing to another, to find out the account;

which my soul still seeketh, but I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

For everything will have opportunity and judgment, and this the thing that maketh men full of carefulness and sorrow.

There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice it.

All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt.

And so I have seen the wicked buried, and they went in, even from the Holy Place they go, and they are forgotten in the city whether they had so done. This also is vanity.

But though an evil person offend a hundredth times, and have a long life: yet am I sure, that it shall go well with them that fear God, because they have him before their eyes.

There is a vanity that hath been done upon the earth, that there are righteous ones unto whom it is coming according to the work of the wicked, and there are wicked ones unto whom it is coming according to the work of the righteous. I have said that this also is vanity.

And I have praised mirth because there is no good to man under the sun except to eat and to drink, and to rejoice, and it remaineth with him of his labour the days of his life that God hath given to him under the sun.

But all this I have laid unto my heart, so as to clear up the whole of this, that the righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God, neither love nor hatred doth man know, the whole is before them.

This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.

Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.

And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.

I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:

and there hath been found in it a poor wise man, and he hath delivered the city by his wisdom, and men have not remembered that poor man!

If, the spirit of a ruler, riseth up against thee, thy place, do not leave, for gentleness, pacifieth such as have greatly erred.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as it were an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking like servants upon the earth.

Whoso removeth stones shall have travail withal; and he that heweth wood, shall be hurt therewith.

Give a part to seven or even to eight, because you have no knowledge of the evil which will be on the earth.

As you have no knowledge of the way of the wind, or of the growth of the bones in the body of her who is with child, even so you have no knowledge of the works of God who has made all.

Have joy, O young man, while you are young; and let your heart be glad in the days of your strength, and go in the ways of your heart, and in the desire of your eyes; but be certain that for all these things God will be your judge.

Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

In the day that keepers of the house tremble, And men of strength have bowed themselves, And grinders have ceased, because they have become few. And those looking out at the windows have become dim,

And doors have been shut in the street. When the noise of the grinding is low, And one riseth at the voice of the bird, And all daughters of song are bowed down.

Also of that which is high they are afraid, And of the low places in the way, And the almond-tree is despised, And the grasshopper is become a burden, And want is increased, For man is going unto his home age-during, And the mourners have gone round through the street.

Words of the wise are as goads, and as fences planted by the masters of collections, they have been given by one shepherd.

This is the last word. All has been said. Have fear of God and keep his laws; because this is right for every man.