What does a man gain for all his efforts
that he labors at under the sun?

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

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.

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

What does the worker gain from his struggles?

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

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?

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

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.

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?

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

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

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?

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.

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

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