There is a thing [of] which it is said, "Look at this! This is new!" [But] it already existed in ages past before us.

{I said to myself}, "Look! I have become great and have increased [in] wisdom more than anyone who {has preceded} me over Jerusalem. {I have acquired a great deal of wisdom and knowledge}."

I said {to myself}, "Come! I will test pleasure {to see whether it is worthwhile}." But look, "This also [is] vanity!"

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

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!"

So I said {to myself}, "God will surely judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time [of judgment] for every deed and every work."

I said to myself concerning {humans}, "God sifts them in order to show them that they are like beasts."

All this I have tested with wisdom. I said, "I will be wise!" but {it was beyond my grasp}.

I set my mind to try to seek wisdom and the plan, and to know that wickedness [is] foolishness and that folly [is] delusion.

"Look! I found this," said the Teacher, "while trying to find how the plan fits together.

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!"

The fool is set in many high places, but the rich sit in lowly places.

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 light is sweet, and it [is] pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth! Follow the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes-- but know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.