All words becoming weary; man shall not be able to speak: the eye shall not be satisfied to see, and the ear shall not be filled from hearing.

Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been long ago, in the ages which were before us.

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.

And I set my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I realized that this too is a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.

I said {to myself}, "Come! I will test pleasure {to see whether it is worthwhile}." But look, "This also [is] vanity!"

I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their life.

Whenever I wanted something I had seen, I never refused that desire. Instead, I enjoyed everything I did, and this became the reward in what I had undertaken.

And I turned to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what is the man who cometh after the king? that which is already -- they have done it!

{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.

Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

He has made everything right in its time; but he has made their hearts without knowledge, so that man is unable to see the works of God, from the first to the last.

yea, even every man who eateth and hath drunk and seen good by all his labour, it is a gift of God.

Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.

And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment -- there is the wicked; and the place of righteousness -- there is the wicked.

I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.

Wherefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him back to see what shall be after him?

And I have turned, and I see all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and lo, the tear of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and at the hand of their oppressors is power, and they have no comforter.

yea, better than them both did I esteem him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

And I have seen all the labour, and all the benefit of the work, because for it a man is the envy of his neighbour. Even this is vanity and vexation of spirit.

And I have turned, and I see a vain thing under the sun:

I have seen all the living, who are walking under the sun, with the second youth who doth stand in his place;

If you see the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter: for the high official is watched by a higher one; and there are yet higher ones over them.

When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely , riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men:

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

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

What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

Never ask "Why does the past seem so much better than now?" because this question does not come from wisdom.

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance; yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun.

See the work of God, For who is able to make straight that which He made crooked?

When times are good, be joyful; when times are bad, consider this: God made the one as well as the other, so people won't seek anything outside of his best.

All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing.

I turned about, and my heart was set to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the reason of things , and to know that wickedness is folly, and that foolishness is madness.

Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,

For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.

This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.

Be not hasty to go out of his sight, and see thou continue in no evil thing: for whatsoever it pleaseth him, that doeth he.

All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt.

And so I have seen the wicked buried, and they went in, even from the Holy Place they go, and they are forgotten in the city whether they had so done. This also is vanity.

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 beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

For all these things purposed I in my mind to seek out. The righteous and wise, yea and their servants also are in the hand of God: and there is no man that knoweth either love or hate, but all things are before them.

See life with the wife whom thou hast loved, all the days of the life of thy vanity, that He hath given to thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity, for it is thy portion in life, even of thy labour that thou art labouring at under the sun.

I have turned so as to see under the sun, that not to the swift is the race, nor to the mighty the battle, nor even to the wise bread, nor even to the intelligent wealth, nor even to the skilful grace, for time and chance happen with them all.

I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:

And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as it were an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking like servants upon the earth.

He who is watching the wind will not get the seed planted, and he who is looking at the clouds will not get in the grain.

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.

Truly the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart gladden thee in the days of thine early manhood, and walk thou - in the ways of thine own heart, and in that which is seen by thine own eyes, - yet know, that, for all these things, will God bring thee into judgment.

In the day when the keepers of the house are shaking for fear, and the strong men are bent down, and the women who were crushing the grain are at rest because their number is small, and those looking out of the windows are unable to see;