What does a person gain in all his toil with which he toils under the sun?

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

What is twisted cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said of laughter, "[It is] folly!" and of pleasure, "{What does it accomplish?}"

I also {explored} {the effects of indulging my flesh} with wine. My mind guiding me with wisdom, {I investigated} folly so that I might discover what [is] good under heaven for {humans} to do {during the days of their lives}.

Next, I considered wisdom, as well as delusion and folly. What can anyone [do] who will come after the king that has not already been done?

So I said {to myself}, "{If I also suffer the same fate as the fool}, {what advantage is my great wisdom}?" So I said {to myself}, "This also [is] vanity!"

For what does a person receive for all his toil and in the longing of his heart with which he toils under the sun?

a time to bear and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to root up [what is] planted;

What does the worker gain in his toil?

He has made everything suitable in its time. He also has put {the past} in their hearts, yet no one can grasp what God does from the beginning to the end.

What is--it already was, and what will be--it already is, for {God will do what he has done.}

So I concluded that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy [the fruit of] his labor, for this is his lot in life. {For no one knows what will happen in the future.}

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for {he takes no pleasure} in fools. Fulfill what you vow!

This also [is] a grievous illness. Exactly as he came, so he will go. What profit [does] he gain for all his toil for the wind?

Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and {to enjoy} all [the fruit of] the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him--for this [is] his lot.

{Better to be content with what your eyes see than for your soul to constantly crave more}. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

Whatever is--it was already determined, {what will be--it has already been decided}. As for man, he cannot argue against what is more powerful than him.

For who knows what [is] good for a man in his life during the few days of his fleeting life, which are fleeting as a shadow? For who can tell anyone what will happen {in the future} under the sun?

Consider the work of God. For who is able to make straight what he made crooked?

In the day of prosperity, rejoice! But in the day of adversity, consider! For God made one in place of another so that mortals cannot find out what will happen {in the future}.

What my heart sought, I did not find. Although I found one righteous man among one thousand, I did not find one [upright] woman among all these.

Since the word of the king [is] supreme, no one can say to him, "What are you doing?"

Surely no one knows what will be, so who can tell anyone what will happen?

There [is] a vanity that happens on earth: sometimes the righteous suffer what the wicked deserve, and sometimes the wicked receive what the righteous deserve. I said, "This also [is] vanity!"

What they loved and hated, as well as what they desired, has already perished. They no longer have any share in what is done under the sun.

He begins by saying what is foolish and ends by uttering what is wicked delusion.

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

Divide your share in seven or in eight, for you do not know what disaster will happen on the earth.

Sow your seed in the morning, and do not let your hands rest in the evening, for you do not know what will prosper-- whether this or that, or whether both of them alike will succeed.

The Teacher sought to find delightful words, and he wrote what is upright--truthful words.