I saw all the works which were done under the sun, - and lo! all, was vanity, and a feeding on wind.

I acquired, men-servants and women-servants, and, the children of the household, were mine, - also possessions, herds and flocks in abundance, were mine, beyond all who had been before me in Jerusalem;

Said, I, in my heart, as concerning the sons of men, That God was minded to prove them, - and that they might see, that they were beasts, of themselves.

For, as regardeth the destiny of the sons of men and the destiny of beasts, one fate, have they, as dieth the one, so, dieth the other, and, one spirit, have they all, - and, the pre-eminence of man over beast, is nothing, for, all, were vanity:

Then again, I, considered all the oppressive deeds which were done under the sun, - and lo! the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter, and, on the side of their oppressing, is power, and they have no comforter.

So, I, pronounced happy the dead, who were, already, dead, - more than the living, who were living, still;

I saw all the living, who were going hither and thither under the sun, - that they were with the boy who was to be the second, who was to stand in the other's place: -

Do not say, What hath happened, that, the former days, were better than these? for, not wisely, askest thou concerning this.

Here was a vain thing which was done upon the earth - that there were righteous men unto whom it happened according to the work of the lawless, and there were lawless men, unto whom it happened according to the work of the righteous, - I said, that, even this, was vanity.

For, unto all this, I applied my heart, and, my heart, considered all this, that, the righteous and the wise and their servants, were in the hand of God, - neither love nor hatred, could any man know, every one, was before Him.

For, indeed, man could not know his own time, like fishes which were caught in a cruel net, and like little birds which were caught in a trap, - like them, were ensnared the sons of men, by a time of misfortune, when it fell upon them suddenly.