With his lips the hater makes things seem what they are not, but deceit is stored up inside him;

When he says fair words, have no belief in him; for in his heart are seven evils:

Do not make a noise about tomorrow, for you are not certain what a day's outcome may be.

The wounds of a friend are given in good faith, but the kisses of a hater are false.

Like face looking at face in water, so are the hearts of men to one another.

The underworld and Abaddon are never full, and the eyes of man have never enough.

The grass comes up and the young grass is seen, and the mountain plants are got in.

The lambs are for your clothing, and the he-goats make the value of a field:

The evil man goes running away when no man is after him, but the upright are without fear, like the lion.

Because of the sin of the land, its troubles are increased; but by a man of wisdom and knowledge they will be put out like a fire.

Those who have no respect for the law give praise to the evil-doer; but such as keep the law are against him.

Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are not straight.

When the upright do well, there is great glory; but when evil-doers are lifted up, men do not let themselves be seen.

He whose ways are upright will be safe, but sudden will be the fall of him whose ways are twisted.

When evil-doers are lifted up, men take cover; but when destruction overtakes them, the upright are increased.

When the upright have power, the people are glad; when an evil man is ruler, grief comes on the people.

Men of pride are the cause of violent acts in a town, but by wise men wrath is turned away.

Men of blood are haters of the good man, and evil-doers go after his soul.

If a ruler gives attention to false words, all his servants are evil-doers.

When evil men are in power, wrongdoing is increased; but the upright will have pleasure when they see their downfall.

Where there is no vision, the people are uncontrolled; but he who keeps the law will be happy.

Who has gone up to heaven and come down? who has taken the winds in his hands, prisoning the waters in his robe? by whom have all the ends of the earth been fixed? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if you are able to say?

There is a generation who seem to themselves to be free from sin, but are not washed from their unclean ways.

There is a generation, O how full of pride are their eyes! O how their brows are lifted up!

There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, their strong teeth like knives, for the destruction of the poor from the earth, and of those who are in need from among men.

The night-spirit has two daughters, Give, give. There are three things which are never full, even four which never say, Enough:

There are three things, the wonder of which overcomes me, even four things outside my knowledge:

For three things the earth is moved, and there are four which it will not put up with:

There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are very wise:

The ants are a people not strong, but they put by a store of food in the summer;

The conies are only a feeble people, but they make their houses in the rocks;

There are three things whose steps are good to see, even four whose goings are fair:

For fear that through drinking they may come to have no respect for the law, wrongly judging the cause of those who are in trouble.

Let your mouth be open for those who have no voice, in the cause of those who are ready for death.

Her hands are stretched out to the poor; yes, she is open-handed to those who are in need.

She has no fear of the snow for her family, for all those in her house are clothed in red.

Strength and self-respect are her clothing; she is facing the future with a smile.

Unnumbered women have done well, but you are better than all of them.

Fair looks are a deceit, and a beautiful form is of no value; but a woman who has the fear of the Lord is to be praised.

All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.

All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.

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.

And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.

I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.

The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.

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!

All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is to no purpose.

Whatever is has been before, and what is to be is now; because God makes search for the things which are past.

All go to one place, all are of the dust, and all will be turned to dust again.

And again I saw all the cruel things which are done under the sun; there was the weeping of those who have evil done to them, and they had no comforter: and from the hands of the evil-doers there went out power, but they had no comforter.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work.

So again, if two are sleeping together they are warm, but how may one be warm by himself?

And two attacked by one would be safe, and three cords twisted together are not quickly broken.

Be not unwise with your mouth, and let not your heart be quick to say anything before God, because God is in heaven and you are on the earth--so let not the number of your words be great.

If you see the poor under a cruel yoke, and law and right being violently overturned in a country, be not surprised, because one authority is keeping watch on another and there are higher than they.

When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?

All his days are in the dark, and he has much sorrow, pain, disease, and trouble.

If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.

And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?

There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?

The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.

The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.

These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.

And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.

The word of a king has authority; and who may say to him, What is this you are doing?

Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life is long, I am certain that it will be well for those who go in fear of God and are in fear before him.

There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.

When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),

All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.

This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.

The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them.

Their love and their hate and their envy are now ended; and they have no longer a part for ever in anything which is done under the sun.

Whatever comes to your hand to do with all your power, do it because there is no work, or thought, or knowledge, or wisdom in the place of the dead to which you are going.

Even man has no knowledge of his time; like fishes taken in an evil net, or like birds taken by deceit, are the sons of men taken in an evil time when it comes suddenly on them.

Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is not respected, and his words are not given a hearing.

The words of the wise which come quietly to the ear are noted more than the cry of a ruler among the foolish.

The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low.

The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction.

The first words of his mouth are foolish, and the end of his talk is evil crime.

The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?

Unhappy is the land whose king is a boy, and whose rulers are feasting in the morning.

If the clouds are full of rain, they send it down on the earth; and if a tree comes down to the south, or the north, in whatever place it comes down, there it will be.

In the morning put your seed into the earth, and till the evening let not your hand be at rest; because you are not certain which will do well, this or that--or if the two will be equally good.

Have joy, O young man, while you are young; and let your heart be glad in the days of your strength, and go in the ways of your heart, and in the desire of your eyes; but be certain that for all these things God will be your judge.

So put away trouble from your heart, and sorrow from your flesh; because the early years and the best years are to no purpose.

Let your mind be turned to your Maker in the days of your strength, while the evil days come not, and the years are far away when you will say, I have no pleasure in them;

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are not dark, and the clouds come not back after the rain;

In the day when the keepers of the house are shaking for fear, and the strong men are bent down, and the women who were crushing the grain are at rest because their number is small, and those looking out of the windows are unable to see;

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;

And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;

All things are to no purpose, says the Preacher, all is to no purpose.

The words of the wise are pointed, and sayings grouped together are like nails fixed with a hammer; they are given by one guide.

Take me to you, and we will go after you: the king has taken me into his house. We will be glad and full of joy in you, we will give more thought to your love than to wine: rightly are they your lovers.

See, you are fair, my love, you are fair; you have the eyes of a dove.

See, you are fair, my loved one, and a pleasure; our bed is green.

Cedar-trees are the pillars of our house; and our boards are made of fir-trees.

The flowers are come on the earth; the time of cutting the vines is come, and the voice of the dove is sounding in our land;

O my dove, you are in the holes of the mountain sides, in the cracks of the high hills; let me see your face, let your voice come to my ears; for sweet is your voice, and your face is fair.

See, it is the bed of Solomon; sixty men of war are about it, of the army of Israel,