I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.

And nothing which was desired by my eyes did I keep from them; I did not keep any joy from my heart, because my heart took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward.

Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.”

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.

So I turned me to refrain my mind from all such travail, as I took under the Sun:

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.

For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

Then I looked again and considered all the acts of oppression that were being practiced under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.

I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.

There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is vanity and striving after wind.

Guard your steps and focus on what you are doing as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the [careless or irreverent] sacrifice of fools; for they are too ignorant to know they are doing evil.

Too many worries lead to nightmares, and a fool is known from talking too much.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does the one gain who struggles for the wind?

What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind.

For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool;
And this too is futility.

Therefore be thou neither too righteous nor over wise, that thou perish not:

be neither too unrighteous also nor too foolish, lest thou die before thy time.

Obey the king's command, because you took an oath before God to be loyal to him.

So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.

There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.

All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.

Every one, was like every one else, one destiny, had the righteous and the lawless, the good and the pure and the impure, and he that sacrificed, and he that did not sacrifice, - as the good man, so, the sinner, he that took an oath, as he who, of an oath, stood in fear.

Folly placed in great dignity, - while, the rich, in a low place, took their seat:

The fool {talks too much}, for no one knows what will be. Who can tell anyone what will happen {in the future}?

So learn from them, my son. There is no end to the crafting of many books, and too much study wearies the body.