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 up.

Again, if two lie close together, they will keep warm, but how can only one stay warm?

And though one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

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 them. Yet those who come later will not be happy with him. Surely this also is vanity (emptiness) and chasing after the wind.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh for to sin, neither say thou before the angel that it is thy ignorance. For then God will be angry at thy voice, and destroy all the works of thine hands.

If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight [of corruption]; for a higher official watches over another official, and there are higher ones over them [looking out for one another].

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its gain. This too is vanity (emptiness).

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

As he came naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came; and he will take away nothing from all his labor that he can carry in his hand.

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?

Behold, what I saw: good, which is beautiful to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labor that he will labor under the sun the number of the days of his life, which God gave to him; for this his portion.

For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God answereth him with the joy of his heart.

God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy.

In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.

For what will remain to the wise one more than the foolish one? what to the poor that shall know to go before the living

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.

Because many words lead to pointlessness, how do people benefit from this? 12Who knows what is best for people in this life, every day of their pointless lives that they pass through like a shadow? Who informs people on earth what will come along after them?

For who [limited by human wisdom] knows what is good for man during his lifetime, during the few days of his futile life? He spends them like a shadow [staying busy, but achieving nothing of lasting value]. For who can tell a man what will happen after him [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun [after his life is over]?

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

For oppression will make foolish the wise one; and a gift will destroy the heart.

Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?

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}.

Thou shalt not be greatly just; and thou shalt not be exceedingly wise: wherefore wilt thou be made desolate?

Thou shalt not be greatly wicked, and thou shalt not be foolish: wherefore wilt thou die not in thy time?

It is good that you take hold of one thing (righteousness) and also not let go of the other (wisdom); for the one who fears and worships God [with awe-filled reverence] will come forth with both of them.

Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you.

All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

Whatever hath been, is far off, and exceeding deep: who will find it out?

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

Who is like the wise man? and to whom is the sense of anything clear? A man's wisdom makes his face shining, and his hard face will be changed.

Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence, and don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants.

Since the word of the king is authoritative, who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

Whoever keeps and observes a royal command will experience neither trouble nor misery;
For a wise heart will know the proper time and [appropriate] procedure.

For everything will have opportunity and judgment, and this the thing that maketh men full of carefulness and sorrow.

For no one knows what will happen;
So who can tell him how and when it will happen?

There is no man who has power and authority over the wind to restrain the wind,
Nor does he have authority over the day of death;
There is no discharge [from service] during time of war,
And evil will not rescue those who [actively seek to] practice it.

And so then I saw the unjust buried, and they came and they will go from the holy place, and they will be forgotten in the city where they did thus: also this is vanity.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life [seemingly] is prolonged [in spite of his wickedness], still I know that it will be well with those who [reverently] fear God, who fear and worship Him openly [realizing His omnipresence and His power].

But it will not be well for the evil man, nor will he lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

Then I commended pleasure and enjoyment, because a man [without God] has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for this will stand by him in his toil through the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

and I saw all the work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though man may labor in seeking, he will not discover; and [more than that], though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, he will not be able to find it out.

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 know nothing, and they no longer have a reward [here], for the memory of them is forgotten.

Furthermore, their love, their hate, and their envy have been long lost. Never again will they have a part in what happens on earth.

Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, the place where you will eventually go.

I turned back, and saw under the sun that not to the fleet the race, and the war not to the strong, and also not to the wise, bread; and also not to the understanding ones, riches; and also not to the knowing, favor; for time and chance will light upon all of them.

For also man knew not his time: as the fishes being laid hold of in an evil net, and as the birds laid hold of in the snare, as they, the sons of men being snared for an evil time, as it will fall upon them suddenly.

Wisdom is good above the instruments of encounter: and one sinning will destroy much good.

Flies of death will cause the oil of the perfume to stink, it will ferment: the preciousness of wisdom above the honor of the least folly.

If the spirit of him ruling shall go up against thee, thou shalt not leave thy place; for quietness will put down great sins.

He who digs a pit [for others] may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a [stone] wall.

He who quarries stones may be hurt with them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.

If someone's ax is blunt the edge isn't sharpened then more strength will be needed. Putting wisdom to work will bring success.

Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

And the fool multiplieth words: yet man knoweth not what shall be; and what shall be after him, who will tell him?

The work of the foolish will be a weariness to him, because he has no knowledge of the way to the town.

Wo! to thee, O land: thy king a youth, and thy chiefs will eat in the morning.

By sloth the frame work will pine away; and by the letting down of the hands, the house will drop.

For laughter they make bread, and wine will gladden the living: and silver will answer with all.

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

Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, [be diligently active, make thoughtful decisions], for you will find it after many days.

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

If the clouds are full [of rain], they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it lies.

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

As thou wilt not know what the way of the spirit, as the bones in the womb of her being filled, so thou shalt not know the work of God who will make all.

Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle with your hands in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening planting will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Yes, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that is to come will be futility.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Remember [thoughtfully] also your Creator in the days of your youth [for you are not your own, but His], before the evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of physical pleasures], “I have no enjoyment and delight in them”;

when that day comes, the palace guards will tremble, strong men will stoop down, women grinders will cease because they are few, and the sight of those who peer through the lattice will grow dim.

When the doors are shut in the street, and the sound of the crushing is low, and the voice of the bird is soft, and the daughters of music will be made low;

Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road;
the almond tree blossoms,
the grasshopper loses its spring,
and the caper berry has no effect;
for man is headed to his eternal home,
and mourners will walk around in the street;

then man's dust will go back to the earth, returning to what it was, and the spirit will return to the God who gave it.

We will hear the end of all the word: Fear thou God, and watch his commands: for this is all man.

For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

Marvel not at me that I am so black: For why? The sun hath shined upon me. My mother's children had evil will at me, they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Tell me, thou loved of my soul! Where wilt thou pasture thy flock? Where wilt thou let them recline at noon? For why should I be as one that wrappeth a veil about her, by the flocks of thy companions?

There will I tarry for thee, my love, with mine host and with my chariots, which shall be no fewer than Pharaoh's.

We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

SHEBy the time the king is in his circle, my nard, will have given out its fragrance:

for a bundle of Myrrh is my love unto me; he will lie betwixt my breasts.

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.

I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

So when I was a little past them, I found him whom my soul loveth. I have gotten hold upon him, and will not let him go, until I bring him into my mother's house, and in to her chamber that bare me.

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

Thy lips will drop honey droppings, O bride: honey and milk under thy tongue, and the odor of thy garments as the odor of Lebanon.

SHEAwake, O north wind, and come in, thou south, Fan my garden - its balsams, will flow out, - Let my beloved enter his garden, and eat his precious fruits.

Come into my garden O my sister, my Spouse: I have gathered my Myrrh with my spice. I will eat my honey and my honeycomb, I will drink my wine and my milk. Eat, O ye friends, drink and be merry, O ye beloved.

I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, If ye find my beloved, ... What will ye tell him? That I am sick of love.

Whither is thy beloved gone, Thou fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved turned aside? And we will seek him with thee.

She is one, my dove, my perfect one; she is one to her mother, she is the chosen to her bearing her. The daughters saw her and pronounced her happy; the queens and the concubines, and they will praise her.

Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.

Thy navel a bowl of roundness, it will not want mixed wine; thy belly a heap of wheat enclosed with lilies.

I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;

There will I turn me unto my love, and he shall turn him unto me.