The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Gusting to the south,
turning to the north,
turning, turning, goes the wind,
and the wind returns in its cycles.

Can one say about anything,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed in the ages before us.

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

I explored with my mind how to let my body enjoy life with wine and how to grasp folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

I made gardens and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them.

I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned many herds of cattle and flocks, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me.

All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.

When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.

The wise man has eyes in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness.

Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.

For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise man dies just like the fool?

For to the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

There is an occasion for everything,
and a time for every activity under heaven:

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end.

I know that all God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of Him.

For the fate of people and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile.

Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them.

But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

The fool folds his arms
and consumes his own flesh.

Better one handful with rest
than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.

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

For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.

Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm?

And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer pays attention to warnings.

For he came from prison to be king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.

There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to draw near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.

Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them.

The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile.

When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?

That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed.

As he came from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands.

What is more, he eats in darkness all his days, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

Here is what I have seen to be good: it is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.

God has also given riches and wealth to every man, and He has allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God,

Here is a tragedy I have observed under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity:

For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness.

Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what man is. But he is not able to contend with the One stronger than he.

For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for man?

For who knows what is good for man in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell man what will happen after him under the sun?

A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.

Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.

The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,
for anger abides in the heart of fools.

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance
and an advantage to those who see the sun,

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

In my futile life I have seen everything: there is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil.

It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.

There is certainly no righteous man on the earth
who does good and never sins.

I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and seek wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness.

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation,

which my soul continually searches for but does not find: among a thousand people I have found one true man, but among all these I have not found a true woman.

Keep the king’s command because of your oath made before God.

Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence, and don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants.

The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though man’s troubles are heavy on him.

Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen?

No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape.

All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one man has authority over another to his harm.

In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they did so. This too is futile.

There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night),

Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands.People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.

Everything is the same for everyone: there is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as for the one who takes an oath, so for the one who fears an oath.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.

Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.

Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.

Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.

Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

For man certainly does not know his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it.

Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much good.

Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense,
and he shows everyone he is a fool.

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

The fool is appointed to great heights,
but the rich remain in lowly positions.

I have seen slaves on horses,
but princes walking on the ground like slaves.

The one who digs a pit may fall into it,
and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

The one who quarries stones may be hurt by them;
the one who splits trees may be endangered by them.

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen its edge,
then one must exert more strength;
however, the advantage of wisdom is that it brings success.

Yet the fool multiplies words.
No one knows what will happen,
and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?

Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth
and your princes feast in the morning.

Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles
and your princes feast at the proper time—
for strength and not for drunkenness.

Because of laziness the roof caves in,
and because of negligent hands the house leaks.

A feast is prepared for laughter,
and wine makes life happy,
and money is the answer for everything.

Do not curse the king even in your thoughts,
and do not curse a rich person even in your bedroom,
for a bird of the sky may carry the message,
and a winged creature may report the matter.

Send your bread on the surface of the waters,
for after many days you may find it.

Give a portion to seven or even to eight,
for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth.

If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth;
whether a tree falls to the south or the north,
the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

One who watches the wind will not sow,
and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Just as you don’t know the path of the wind,
or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman,
so you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.