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

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

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 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.

I also gathered silver and gold to myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got men singers and women singers for myself, and the delights of the sons of men, a wife and very many wives.

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?

The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness; and I also knew that one event happens to all of them.

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.

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?

For God gives wisdom, and knowledge, and joy to a man who is good in His sight. But to the sinner He gives labor, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

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 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.

For that which happens to the sons of men also happens to beasts, even one thing happens to them. As this one dies, so that one dies; yea, they all have one breath; so that a man has no advantage over a beast; for all is vanity.

Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward?

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?

Again, I considered all labor, and every right work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

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.

If a man fathers a hundred, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also is for him no burial; I say, a miscarriage is better than he.

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

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.

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

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.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity take note that God also has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.

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

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

Who is as the wise? And who knows the meaning of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.

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

Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great on him.

There is no man who has power over the spirit to keep the spirit; nor power in the day of death; and there is no discharge in that war; nor shall wickedness deliver its owners.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

So long as the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are darkened, or the clouds return after rain,

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,

also they are afraid of the high place, and terrors along the way, and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goes to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets;

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man.