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.

There is neither remembrance of former generations, nor will there be remembrance of future generations.

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

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?

Certainly no one will remember the wise man or the fool in {future generations}. When [future] days come, both will have been forgotten already. How [is it that] the wise man dies the same as the fool?

So I hated all my toil with which I have toiled under the sun, for I must leave it behind to someone who will be after me.

And who knows [whether] he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will exercise control of all [the fruit of] my toil with which I toiled wisely under the sun. This also [is] vanity!

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

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."

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.}

I saw all the living who move about under the sun with the youth; the second who will stand in his place.

There is no end to all the people, to all who were before him. Yet the later generation will not rejoice in him, for this also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

Just as he came from his mother's womb naked, {he will depart} just as he came; he will take nothing with him for his toil.

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?

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?

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}.

[It is] good to take hold of the one and also must not let go of the other; for whoever fears God will hold both of them secure.

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

Whoever obeys [his] command will not suffer disaster. The wise mind knows the [proper] time and the right [procedure].

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

Just as no one can control the wind to restrain the wind, so also no one can control the day of his death. Just as no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not deliver the wicked.

Although the sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will be good for those who fear God--because they fear {his presence}.

But it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not prolong [their] days, like the shadow; because there is no fearing {God's presence}.

So I recommend enjoyment. For there [is] nothing better for man under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice. This will accompany him in his toil the days of his life that God gives to him under the sun.

So all this I laid to my heart, and I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, [are] in the hand of God. So no one knows anything that will [come] to them, whether [it will be] love or hatred.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything. They no longer have a reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it. Whoever breaks through a wall, a snake will bite him.

Whoever {quarries} stones will be wounded by them. Whoever splits logs will be endangered by them.

If the snake bites before the charming, {the snake charmer will not succeed}.

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

Send out your bread on the water, for in many days you will find it.

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

When the clouds are full, they empty rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or whether it falls to the north, the place where the tree falls--there it will be.

Whoever watches the wind will not sow; whoever watches the clouds will not reap.

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.

For if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in all of them! Let him remember that the days of the darkness will be many-- all that is coming [is] vanity!

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.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth-- before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them!"

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.