All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

All things are full of toil; none can express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them: I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour, and this was my portion from all my labour.

For there is a man whose labour hath been with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill, and who leaveth it to a man that hath not laboured therein, to be his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

For all his days are sorrows, and his travail vexation: even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.

He hath made everything beautiful in its time; also he hath set the world in their heart, so that man findeth not out from the beginning to the end the work that God doeth.

and more fortunate than both is he who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

There is one alone and without a second; also he hath neither son nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour, neither is his eye satisfied with riches, and he saith not, For whom then am I labouring, and depriving my soul of good? This also is vanity and a grievous occupation.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and who hath not another to lift him up!

And if a man overpower the one, the two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

There is no end of all the people, of all that stood before them; those however that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after the wind.

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and draw near to hear, rather than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in the heavens, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few.

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an inadvertence. Wherefore should God be wroth at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter; for a higher than the high is watching, and there are higher than they.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This also is vanity.

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.

For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God answereth him with the joy of his heart.

one to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and a sore evil.

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

moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun: this hath rest rather than the other.

Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

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

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be vexed; for vexation resteth in the bosom of fools.

Say not, How is it that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.

Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?

Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from that withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God cometh forth from them all.

Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.

Also give not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.

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

Be not hasty to go out of his sight; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatever pleaseth him,

for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?

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

but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days as a shadow, because he feareth not before God.

When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes),

then I saw that all is the work of God, and that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however man may labour to seek it out, yet doth he not find it; and even, if a wise man think to know it, he shall not be able to find it out.

All things come alike to all: one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean, to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

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.

Let thy garments be always white, and let not thy head lack oil.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to the intelligent, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are taken with the snare, like them are the children of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

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

If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for quietness pacifieth great offences.

If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he apply more strength; but wisdom is profitable to give success.

And the fool multiplieth words: yet man knoweth not what shall be; and what shall be after him, who will tell him?

The labour of fools wearieth them, because they know not how to go to the city.

Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is a son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for the bird of the air will carry the voice, and that which hath wings will tell the matter.

Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

He that observeth the wind will not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds will not reap.

As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child, even so thou knowest not the work of God who maketh all.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.