Three things are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I do not know:

Under three things the earth quakes, and under four it is not able to bear up:

the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer;

the rock-badgers are not a mighty people, yet they make their houses in the rock;

a lion is mighty among beasts and does not turn away for any;

Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes to lust for strong drink;

The heart of her husband trusts safely in her, so that he shall have no need of plunder.

She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She also rises while it is still night, and gives food to her household, and a share to her young women.

She sees that her merchandise is good; her lamp does not go out by night.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; to the place from where the rivers come, there 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 did not keep from them; I did not withhold my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my part of all my labor.

When there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and with success; yet to a man who has not labored in it, he shall leave it for his share. This also is vanity and a great evil.

For all his days are sorrows, and his labor sadness; yea, his heart does not take rest in the night. This is also vanity.

Is it not good that he should eat and drink and make his soul see good in his labor? This I also saw, that it was from the hand of God.

Yea, better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he has neither son nor brother; yet there is no end to all his labor; and his eyes are not satisfied with riches; and he says, For whom do I labor and take good from my soul? This is also vanity. Yes, it is an evil business.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he does not have another to help him.

And if one overthrows him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

A poor and a wise child is better than an old and foolish king, who will not be warned any more.

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

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools. For they do not know that they are doing evil.

Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not let your heart be hasty to say a word before God. For God is in Heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

When you vow a vow to God, do not wait to pay it. For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you have vowed.

it is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.

Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; do not say before the angel that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

If you see the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter. For He who is higher than the highest watches; and there are some higher than they.

He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, and he who loves abundance not with gain. This is also vanity.

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

As he came forth from his mother's womb naked, he shall return to go as he came. And from his labor he may not carry anything that may go in his hand.

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

a man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

If a man fathers a hundred, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also is for him no burial; I say, a miscarriage is better than he.

Also he has not seen the sun, nor known anything. This one has more rest than the other.

Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet he has 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.

That which has been is named already, and it is known that he is man. And he is not able to contend with Him who is mightier than he.

Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry; for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Do not say, Why was it that the former days were better than these? For you do not ask wisely in regard to this.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity take note that God also has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

Do not be righteous overmuch, neither make yourself overwise; why destroy yourself?

Do not be very wicked, and do not be a fool; why should you die before your time?

It is good that you should take hold of this; yea, also from this do not withdraw your hand; for he who fears God shall come forth from all of them.

For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.

Also do not listen to all words that are spoken; lest you hear your servant curse you.

which my soul still sought, but I find not: one man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all those I have not found.

Do not be hasty to leave his presence. Do not take a stand in an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.

For he does not know what 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 shall not be well with the wicked, nor shall he make his days longer like a shadow; because he does not fear before God.

When I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth; for neither day nor night do men see sleep with their eyes.

Then I looked at all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea, further, though a wise one speaks of knowing, yet he shall not be able to find it.

All happens 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 who sacrifices, and to him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner. He who swears is as he who fears an oath.

For the living know that they shall die; but the dead do not know anything, nor do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.

I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all.

For man also does not know 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 falls suddenly on them.

And I said, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, do not leave your place; for yielding quiets great sinners.

If the iron is blunt, and he does not whet the edge, then he must put more strength to it. But wisdom is profitable to direct.

A fool also makes many words; a man knows not what they shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

The labor of fools wearies him, because he does not know how to go to the city.

Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your leaders eat in due time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Do not curse a king, no, not in your thought; and do not curse the rich in your bedroom; for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which has wings shall tell the matter.

Give a share to seven, and also to eight; for you know not what evil shall be on the earth.

He who watches the wind shall not sow; and he who pays attention to the clouds shall not reap.

As you do not know what is the way of the spirit, as how the bones grow in the pregnant woman's womb; even so you do not know the works of God who makes all.

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know what shall be blessed, either this or that, or whether they both shall be fruitful in the same way.

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days do not come, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them.

or ever the silver cord is not loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern;

Do not look on me, that I am black, that the sun has looked on me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my vineyard I have not kept.

If you know not, most beautiful among women, go in the footsteps of the flock; and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents.

A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved to me. He shall lie all night between my breasts.

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the does of the field, do not stir up or awake my Love until He please.

By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loved; I sought Him, but I did not find Him.

I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the broad ways; I will seek Him whom my soul loves. I sought Him, but I did not find Him.

But a little while after I passed from them, I found Him whom my soul loves. I held Him and would not let Him go, until I had brought Him into my mother's house, and into the room of her who conceived me.

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awake my love until it pleases.

They all hold swords, instructed in war; each man has his sword on his thigh because of fear in the night.

Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, which came up from the washing; they all are bearing twins and not one is barren among them.

I sleep, but my heart is awake. It is the sound of my Beloved that knocks, saying, Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled; for My head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.

I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had left. He passed on. My soul went out when He spoke; I sought Him, but I could not find Him. I called Him, but He did not answer me.

Your teeth are like a flock of ewes which go up from the washing; they all are bearing twins, and a barren one is not among them.

I did not know, but my soul set me on the chariots of my princely people.

Who could give You to me as my brother, who sucked my mother's breasts? When I find You outside, I would kiss You; yea, they would not despise me.

The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.

From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; only a wound and a stripe and a fresh blow; they have not been closed, nor bound up, nor soothed with oil.

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? says Jehovah; I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

And when you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

your rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves a bribe, and is pursuing rewards; they do not judge the orphan, nor does the cause of the widow come to them.

And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

And the man bowed down, and man was humbled, but You do not lift them up.

in that day he shall swear, saying, I will not be a healer; there is no bread nor a cloak in my house. You shall not make me a ruler of the people.

The look of their faces witnesses against them; and they declare their sin like Sodom. They do not hide it! Woe to their soul! For they have rewarded evil to themselves.

And Jehovah will create over all the site of Mount Zion, and on her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for on all the glory shall be a defense.

What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Who knows? I looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded rotten grapes.

and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor dug; but briers and thorns shall come up. And I will command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.