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

The wind goes toward the south, and turns about unto the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to its circuit.

There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this severe burden has God given to the sons of man to be afflicted with.

I communed with my own heart, saying, Lo, I have come to greatness, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

And I set my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is like grasping the wind.

I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men, which they should do under heaven all the days of their life.

I made myself pools of water, with which to water the forest that brings forth trees:

And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can a man do that comes after the king? even that which has been already done.

The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one fate happens to them all.

Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it happens even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how does the wise man die? as the fool.

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

For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that has not labored in it shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

For God gives to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping up, only that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping of the wind.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

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

He has made every thing beautiful in its time: also he has put eternity in men's hearts, so that no man can find out the work that God does from the beginning to the end.

I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

I know that, whatsoever God does, it shall be forever: nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God does it, that men should fear before him.

That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been; and God requires that which is past.

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?

Therefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his lot: for who can bring him to see what shall be after him?

There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he has neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labor; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither says he, For whom do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a heavy travail.

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up.

Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?

And if one prevails against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

For out of prison he comes to reign; yet he that is born in his kingdom might become poor.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and you upon earth: therefore let your words be few.

When you vow a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools: pay that which you have vowed.

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?

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: so what good is there to the owners, except the beholding of them with their eyes?

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

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

As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing from his labor, which he may carry away 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.

Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

A man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wants nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him not power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it: this is vanity, and it is an evil affliction.

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

For what has the wise more than the fool? what has the poor, who knows to walk before the living?

A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry: for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Say you not, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

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

For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellence of knowledge is, that wisdom gives life to them that have it.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing that will come after him.

Be not overly wicked, neither be foolish: why should you die before your time?

Also take not to heart all words that are spoken; lest you hear your servant curse you:

I applied my heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:

Behold, this have I found, says the preacher, adding one thing to another, to find out the reason:

Who is as the wise man? and who knows the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom makes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

I counsel you to keep the king's commandment, and that for the sake of your oath to God.

Be not hasty to go out of his presence: stand not for an evil thing; for he does whatsoever pleases him.

Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is heavy upon him.

There is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither has he power in the day of death: and there is no release from that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

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.

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

There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are just men, unto whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

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.

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

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.

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knows either love or hatred by all that is before them.

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

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.

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you go.

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.

Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth a foul odor: so does a little folly to him that is respected for wisdom and honor.

Yea also, when he that is a fool walks by the way, his wisdom fails him, and he says to every one that he is a fool.

If the iron is blunt, and he does not sharpen the edge, then must he use more strength: but wisdom helps one to succeed.

The labor of the foolish wearies every one of them, because he knows not how to go to the city.

Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning!

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

As you know not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so you know not the works of God who makes all.

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

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows grow dim,

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors are in the way, and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

The preacher sought to find acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.