Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband trusteth in her, And he shall have no lack of gain.

She sees that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out, but it burns continually through the night [she is prepared for whatever lies ahead].

Strength and honor are her clothing,
and she can laugh at the time to come.

Many are the daughters who have done worthily, Thou hast gone up above them all.'

What does a person gain in all his toil with which he toils under the sun?

Also, the sun hath risen, and the sun hath gone in, and unto its place panting it is rising there.

All things are full of toil; none can express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Can one say about anything,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed in the ages before us.

There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.

That which is crooked can't be made straight; and that which is lacking can't be counted.

Of laughter, I said, Madness! and, of mirth, What can it do?

And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.

{The wise man can see where he is walking}, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that both of them suffer the same fate.

So I thought to myself, "The fate of the fool will happen even to me! Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?" So I lamented to myself, "The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!"

Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

For what does a person gain from everything that he accomplishes and from his inner life struggles that he undergoes while working on earth?

For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?

What does the worker gain in his toil?

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

I also thought to myself, "It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.

So I have seen that there is nothing better than that a man should be happy in his own works and activities, for that is his portion (share). For who will bring him [back] to see what will happen after he is gone?

I looked again, and I saw all the oppression that occurs under the sun. {I saw the tears of the oppressed-- no one comforts them! Those who oppress them are powerful-- no one can comfort them}!

So my praise was for the dead who have gone to their death, more than for the living who still have life.

Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor.

For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.

Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?

And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

The former can come out of prison to reign, while the latter, even if born to kingship, may become poor.

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

When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what advantage is there to their owners except to see them with their eyes?

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 evil—exactly as he was born, so he shall die. So what advantage has he who labors for the wind?

When God giveth a man riches, goods and honour, so that he wanteth nothing of all that his heart can desire, and yet God giveth him not leave to enjoy the same, but another man spendeth them. This is a vain thing and a miserable plague.

So do the wise [really] have an advantage over fools? {Can the poor [really] gain anything by knowing how to act in front of others}?

It is better to focus on what you can see than to meander after your self-interest; this also is pointless and a chasing after wind.

Whatsoever hath been, the name thereof was given long ago; and it is know what man is; neither can he contend with him that is mightier than he.

For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

Unjust gain makes the wise foolish, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.

Wisdom is good with an inheritance; but it is gain to those who see the sun.

Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

In times of prosperity be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds.

That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?

Do not be terrified of his presence! Go at once and do not delay when a matter [is] unpleasant, for he can do anything that he desires.

For the word of a king is authoritative and powerful,
And who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

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

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.

And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

When I tried to gain wisdom and to observe the activity on earth -- even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night --

then I saw all the work of God, that man can't find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won't find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won't be able to find it.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much good.

One dead fly makes the perfumer's ointment give off a rancid stench, so a little folly can outweigh much wisdom.

If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post, for calmness can undo great offenses.

Someone who quarries stone might be injured; someone splitting logs can fall into danger.

A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

The work of a fool so wears him out that he can't even find his way to town.

Blessed are you, O land, when your king is a son of nobility and your princes feast at the proper time-- to gain strength and not to get drunk.

Also of that which is high they are afraid, And of the low places in the way, And the almond-tree is despised, And the grasshopper is become a burden, And want is increased, For man is going unto his home age-during, And the mourners have gone round through the street.

“Let his left hand be under my head
And his right hand embrace me.”

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

until the day break, and till the shadows be gone. Come again privily, O my beloved, like as a Roe or a young hart unto the mountains.

“Scarcely had I passed them
When I found him whom my soul loves.
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.”

Cypresses with nard -- nard and saffron, Cane and cinnamon, With all trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices.

(The Bridegroom)“I have come into my garden, my sister, my [promised] bride;
I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam and spice [from your sweet words].
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, friends;
Drink and drink deeply, O lovers.”

W I have taken off my clothing.
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?

I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

Who is thy love above other lovers, O thou fairest among women? Or what can thy love do, more than other lovers, that thou chargest us so straightly?

Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.

My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her beloved? Under theapple tree I awakened you. There your mother had gone into labor with you; there she went into labor and gave birth to you.

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

“My very own vineyard is at my disposal;
The thousand [shekels of silver] are for you, O Solomon,
And two hundred are for those who tend the fruit.”

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

From the sole of the foot unto the head, there is no whole part in all your body: but all are wounds, botches, sores and stripes, which can neither be helped, bound up, mollified, nor eased with any ointment.

Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me; new moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can't bear with evil assemblies.

Come, let's consider your options," says the Lord. "Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool.

Your chiefs have gone against the Lord, they have become friends of thieves; every one of them is looking for profit and going after rewards; they do not give right decisions for the child who has no father, and they do not let the cause of the widow come before them.

Therefore the Lord God of Hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will gain satisfaction from My foes;
I will take revenge against My enemies.

But a common destruction will overtake sinners and evil-doers together, and those who have gone away from the Lord will be cut off.

And gone have many peoples and said, 'Come, and we go up unto the mount of Jehovah, Unto the house of the God of Jacob, And He doth teach us of His ways, And we walk in His paths, For from Zion goeth forth a law, And a word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.

And he will be the judge between the nations, and the peoples will be ruled by his decisions: and their swords will be turned into plough-blades, and their spears into vine-knives: no longer will the nations be turning their swords against one another, and the knowledge of war will be gone for ever.

so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs and the openings under the rocky overhangs, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth.

Stop regarding man, whose breath [of life] is in his nostrils [for so little time];
For why should he be esteemed?

What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead?

And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain.

Woe be unto you that join one house to another, and bring one land so nigh unto another, that the poor can get no more ground. Will ye dwell upon the earth alone?

Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

Therefore hath Sheol enlarged herself, And hath opened her mouth without limit. And gone down hath its honour, and its multitude, And its noise, and its exulting one -- into her.

to those who say:
“Let Him hurry up and do His work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place
so that we can know it!”

For this cause, as the waste of the grain is burned up by tongues of fire, and as the dry grass goes down before the flame, so their root will be like the dry stems of grain, and their flower will go up in dust: because they have gone against the law of the Lord of armies, and have given no honour to the word of the Holy One of Israel.

His roaring [is] like the lion, and he roars like young lions. And he growls and seizes his prey, and he carries [it] off, and not one can rescue [it].

And it cometh to pass in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, gone up hath Rezin king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to Jerusalem, to battle against it, and he is not able to fight against it.

‘Let us go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’”

"Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous."

But all the hills which, with the hoe, can be weeded, - there shall not come thither, the fear of briars anti thorns, - but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the tread of lesser cattle.

Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet [for public display] and write on it in ordinary characters: Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

Therefore, lo, the Lord is bringing up on them, The waters of the river, the mighty and the great, (The king of Asshur, and all his glory,) And it hath gone up over all its streams, And hath gone on over all its banks.

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.