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 spoke within my own heart, saying, Lo, I have become great and have gathered more wisdom than all that have been before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart has seen much of wisdom and knowledge.

And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I know that this also is vexation of spirit.

I said in my heart, Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore consider and behold goodness; this also is vanity.

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 bought slaves and slave women, and sons of the house were mine; also livestock, a herd and a great flock were mine, above all that were before me in Jerusalem.

And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I did not withhold my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my part of all my labor.

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.

And I turned to cause my heart to despair over all the labor which I did under the sun.

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

For all his days are sorrows, and his labor sadness; yea, his heart does not take rest in the night. This is also vanity.

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 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.

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.

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for their owners to their hurt.

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

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.

Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made better.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of laughter.

Surely oppression makes a wise man mad; and a bribe destroys the heart.

For also your own heart knows that you yourself have also cursed others many times.

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;

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.

Whoever keeps the command shall feel no evil thing; and a wise man's heart knows both time and judgment.

All this I have seen, and I gave my heart to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

When I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth; for neither day nor night do men see sleep with their eyes.

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.

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event to all. Yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

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

And I said, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

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

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

Yes also, in the way a fool walks, his heart fails; and he says to all that he is a fool.

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

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.

Therefore remove vexation from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for childhood and prime of life are vanity.