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

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have become great and have acquired wisdom more than all they that have been before me over Jerusalem; and my heart hath seen much of wisdom and knowledge.

So I thought in my heart, to withdraw my flesh from wine, to apply my mind unto wisdom, and to comprehend foolishness until the time that among all the things which are under the Sun, I might see what were best for men to do, so long as they live under heaven.

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.

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.

Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.

For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

There is nothing good in a man who eateth, and hath drunk, and hath shewn his soul good in his labour. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

For everything there is a fixed time, and a time for every business under the sun.

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

He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

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

And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

I said to myself regarding the sons of men, “God is surely testing them in order for them to see that [by themselves, without God] they are [only] animals.”

And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

Yea, better is he than both they, which 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.

Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then,'saith he , do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

And, though an enemy should prevail against one, two, might make a stand before him, - and, a threefold cord, cannot soon be broken.

I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

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

Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

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

Whatsoever one may be, long ago, was he called by his name, and it is known that it is - Son of Earth, - he cannot, therefore, contend with one stronger than he.

For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.

All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good and doesn't sin.

I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.

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.

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 ruleth over another to his own hurt.

And I have also seen the wicked buried and going away; and such as had acted rightly went from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity.

Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

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

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto 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.

Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

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 men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

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

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

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

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

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold 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.

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

When all has been heard, the end of the matter is: fear God [worship Him with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is almighty God] and keep His commandments, for this applies to every person.