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

What profit has a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun?

The sun also arises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to its place where it arose.

The thing that has 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 like grasping the wind.

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had made, and on the labor that I had expended on it: and, behold, all was vanity and like grasping the wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

Therefore I hated life; because the work that is done under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and like grasping the wind.

Yea, I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun: because I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

And who knows whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.

Therefore I gave my heart up to despair of all the labor in which I toiled under the sun.

For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart, with which he has labored under the sun?

I have seen the task, which God has given to the sons of men to be occupied in it.

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

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, who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

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

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

Permit not your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; neither say before the angel, that it was an error: why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?

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

But those riches are lost by a bad venture: when he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.

Behold that which I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he takes under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him: for this is his lot.

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

Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this one has more rest 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?

For who knows what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like 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 perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongs his life in his wickedness.

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

Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life, which God gives 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 labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover; though a wise man thinks 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 forever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of the life of your vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity: for that is your portion in this life, and in your labor which you perform 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 favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens 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 proceeds from the ruler:

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

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

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

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

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