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

All things toil continuously; no one can ever finish describing this. The eye is never satisfied with seeing, and the ear is never filled with hearing.

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.

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

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.

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.

I looked again, and I saw all the oppression that occurs under the sun. {I saw the tears of the oppressed-- no one comforts them! Those who oppress them are powerful-- no one can comfort them}!

Also if two lie together, {they can keep each other warm}. But how can one person be warm?

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?

So do the wise [really] have an advantage over fools? {Can the poor [really] gain anything by knowing how to act in front of others}?

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?

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

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?

Just as no one can control the wind to restrain the wind, so also no one can control the day of his death. Just as no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not deliver the wicked.

If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post, for calmness can undo great offenses.

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

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.