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.

All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
The streams are flowing to the place,
and they flow there again.

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

Can one say about anything,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed in the ages before us.

What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”

I explored with my mind how to let my body enjoy life with wine and how to grasp folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

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.

Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the man be like who comes after the king? He will do what has already been done.

The wise man has eyes in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness.

Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.

So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” And I said to myself that this is also futile.

For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise man dies just like the fool?

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.

When there is a man whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong.

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

For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

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,

because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from Him?

What does the worker gain from his struggles?

It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts.

I know that all God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of Him.

Whatever is, has already been, and whatever will be, already is. God repeats what has passed.

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.

There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.

Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them.

When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?

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 is more, he eats in darkness all his days, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

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.

All man’s labor is for his stomach,
yet the appetite is never satisfied.

What advantage then does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others?

Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for man?

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?

It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
since that is the end of all mankind,
and the living should take it to heart.

It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools,

Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?”
since it is not wise of you to ask this.

Consider the work of God,
for who can straighten out
what He has made crooked?

It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.

I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me.

What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it?

“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation,

For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen?

No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape.

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.

Because the sentence against a criminal act is not carried out quickly, the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit crime.

Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before Him.

However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.

There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

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.

Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands.People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.

Everything is the same for everyone: there is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as for the one who takes an oath, so for the one who fears an oath.

Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.

Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.

For man certainly does not know his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

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

There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it.

Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

The one who digs a pit may fall into it,
and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen its edge,
then one must exert more strength;
however, the advantage of wisdom is that it brings success.

If the snake bites before it is charmed,
then there is no advantage for the charmer.

Yet the fool multiplies words.
No one knows what will happen,
and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?

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.

Send your bread on the surface of the waters,
for after many days you may find it.

Give a portion to seven or even to eight,
for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth.

If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth;
whether a tree falls to the south or the north,
the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

One who watches the wind will not sow,
and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.

In the morning sow your seed,
and at evening do not let your hand rest,
because you don’t know which will succeed,
whether one or the other,
or if both of them will be equally good.

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

the doors at the street are shut
while the sound of the mill fades;
when one rises at the sound of a bird,
and all the daughters of song grow faint.

before the silver cord is snapped,
and the gold bowl is broken,
and the jar is shattered at the spring,
and the wheel is broken into the well;

and the dust returns to the earth as it once was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.