For who knoweth, whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? And yet shall he be lord of all my labours, which I with such wisdom have taken under the Sun. Is not this a vain thing?

For who will eat or go more lustily to his work than I?

He giveth unto man, what it pleaseth him; whether it be wisdom, understanding, or gladness. But unto the sinner he giveth weariness and sorrow, that he may gather and heap together the thing, that afterward shall be given unto him whom it pleaseth God. This is now a vain thing, yea a very disquietness and vexation of mind.

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the breath of the beast that goeth down into the earth?

Wherefore I perceive, that there is nothing better for a man, than to be joyful in his labour, for that is his portion. But who will bring him to see the thing that shall come after him?

There is one man, no more but himself alone, having neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of his careful travail, his eyes cannot be satisfied with riches. Yet, doth he not remember himself, and say, "For whom do I take such travail? For whose pleasure do I thus consume away my life?" This is also a vain and miserable thing.

For who knoweth what is good for man living, in the days of his vain life, which is but a shadow? Or, who will tell a man what shall happen after him under the Sun?

And I found, that a woman is bitterer than death: for she is a very angle, her heart is a net, and her hands are chains. Who so pleaseth God shall escape from her, but the sinner will be taken with her.

Who is wise? Who hath knowledge to make an answer? Wisdom maketh a man's face to shine, but malice putteth it out of favour.

Like as when a king giveth a charge, his commandment is mighty: Even so whom may say unto him, "What doest thou?"

And why? A man knoweth not what is for to come: for who will tell him?

Yet is there a vanity upon earth: there be just men, unto whom it happeneth, as though they had the works of the ungodly; Again, there be ungodly, with whom it goeth as though they had the works of the righteous. This me think also a vain thing.

Use thy self to live joyfully with thy wife whom thou lovest, all the days of thy life which is but vanity, that God hath given thee under the Sun; all the days of thy vanity. For that is thy portion in this life, of all thy labor and travail that thou takest under the Sun.

A fool is so full of words, that a man cannot tell what end he shall make. Who will then warn him of it that shall follow after him?