All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; to the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor.

For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not labored in it, shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

For all his days are sorrows, and his labor grief; yes, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

Yes, better is he than both they, who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

There is one alone, and there is not a second; yes, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labor; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labor, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yes, it is a grievous labor.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him to rise.

And if one prevaileth against him, two shall withstand him; and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken.

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

When thou vowest a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

Better is it that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou shouldst vow and not pay.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: why should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perversion of judgment and justice in a province, wonder not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there are higher than they.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eateth little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat of it, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

If a man begetteth a hundred children, and liveth many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also that he hath no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

Yes, though he liveth a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.

Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldst thou destroy thyself?

Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldst thou die before thy time?

It is good that thou shouldst take hold of this; yes, also from this withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God shall escape from them all.

For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatever pleaseth him.

For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)

Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man may labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yes further; though a wise man thinketh to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Then said I, wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

If the spirit of the ruler riseth against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offenses.

If the iron is blunt, and he doth not whet the edge, then must he use more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

The labor of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: for a bird of the air will carry the voice, and that which hath wings will tell the matter.

Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor the structure of the parts of conception in her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: