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

What does a man gain for all his efforts
that he labors at under the sun?

The sun rises and the sun sets;
panting, it returns to its place
where it rises.

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun.

For what does a man get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?

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,

I have seen the task that God has given people to keep them occupied.

I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness.

I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?

Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them.

But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

Again, I saw futility under the sun:

There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “So who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself from good?” This too is futile and a miserable task.

I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow a second youth who succeeds him.

There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed.

Here is what I have seen to be good: it is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.

Here is a tragedy I have observed under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity:

Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he.

For who knows what is good for man in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell man what will happen after him under the sun?

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance
and an advantage to those who see the sun,

In my futile life I have seen everything: there is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil.

All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one man has authority over another to his harm.

So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

I observed all the work of God and concluded that man is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a man labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if the wise man claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.

Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.

Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.

I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me:

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

I have seen slaves on horses,
but princes walking on the ground like slaves.

Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles
and your princes feast at the proper time—
for strength and not for drunkenness.

Light is sweet,
and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun.

before the sun and the light are darkened,
and the moon and the stars,
and the clouds return after the rain;

But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.