I applied my mind to know wisdom and to understand the business that is done on earth--how neither day nor night one's eyes see sleep.

Then I saw all the work of God--man [is] not able to discover the work that is done under the sun. Although man may toil in seeking, he cannot find it. Even if a wise man claims [that he] knows it, he cannot find it.

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.

The same fate [comes] to everyone: to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the wicked, to the clean and to the unclean, to those who sacrifice and to those who do not sacrifice. As [with] the good [man], so also to the sinner; [as with] those who swear an oath, so [also] those who fear oaths.

This [is] the {injustice} that is done under the sun: the same fate [comes] to everyone. Also the hearts of {humans} are full [of] evil; delusion [is] in their hearts during their lives, and then they die.

Whoever is joined to all the living has hope. After all, even a live dog is better than a dead lion!

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.

What they loved and hated, as well as what they desired, has already perished. They no longer have any share in what is done under the sun.

Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which he gives you under the sun, because this [is] your lot in life and in the toil with which you toil under the sun.

I looked again and saw under the sun that the race [does] not [belong] to the swift, the battle [does] not [belong] to the mighty, food [does] not [belong] to the wise, wealth [does] not [belong] to the intelligent, and success [does] not [belong] to the skillful, for time and chance befalls all of them.

For man does not know his time. Just as fish are caught in a cruel net and like birds who are seized in a snare, so also {humans} are ensnared at a cruel time when it falls suddenly upon them.

Now, a poor wise man was found in it, and he delivered the city by his wisdom.

So I concluded that wisdom [is] better than might, yet the wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard.

The words of the wise are heard in peace [more] than the shouting of a ruler [is heard] among the fools.

Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

The heart of the wise [inclines] to his right, but the heart of the fool [inclines] to his left.

Even when the fool walks along the road, he lacks sense; he tells everyone [that] he is a fool.

There is an evil I have seen under the sun-- [it is] an error that proceeds from a ruler!

The fool is set in many high places, but the rich sit in lowly places.

If the ax is blunt but one does not sharpen its edge, {he must exert more effort}, but the advantage of wisdom [is] it brings success.

The wise man [wins] favor by the words of his mouth, but the fool is devoured by his own lips.

He begins by saying what is foolish and ends by uttering what is wicked delusion.

The fool is so worn out by a hard day's work {he cannot even find his way home at night}.

Woe to you, O land, when your king is a youth and your princes feast in the morning.

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.

Just as you do not know how the path of the wind [goes], nor how the bones [of a fetus] form in a mother's womb, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

The light is sweet, and it [is] pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

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!

When the doors on the street are shut, when the sound of the grinding mill is low; one rises up to the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low.

Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken; and the jar at the foundation is broken, and the wheel at the cistern is broken.

And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

"Vanity of vanity!" says the Teacher. "Everything [is] vanity!"

The Teacher sought to find delightful words, and he wrote what is upright--truthful words.

The words of the wise [are] like cattle goads; the collections of the sages [are] like pricks inflicted by one shepherd.

My son, be careful {about anything beyond these things}. For the writing of books is endless, and too much study {is wearisome}.

Now that all has been heard, here is the final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commandments, for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.

The Song of Songs, which [is] for Solomon.

{May you kiss me} {passionately with your lips}, for your love [is] better than wine.

As fragrance, {your perfumes} [are] {delightful}; your name is poured out {perfume}; therefore young women love you.

Draw me after you, let us run! May the king bring me into his chambers! Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you; let us extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you!

Tell me, [you] whom my {heart} loves, where do you pasture your flock, where do your sheep lie down at the noon? {For why should I be like} one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions?

My beloved [is] to me {a pouch} of myrrh, he spends the night between my breasts.

My beloved [is] to me a cluster of blossoms of henna in the vineyards of En Gedi.

Look! You [are] beautiful, my beloved, truly pleasant. Truly our couch [is] {verdant};

the beams of our house [are] cedar; our rafter [is] cypress.

Like a lily among the thorns, so [is] my love among the maidens.

As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so [is] my beloved among the young men. In his shade {I sat down with delight}, and his fruit [was] sweet to my palate.

His left [hand] [is] under my head, and his right [hand] embraces me.

My beloved is like a gazelle or {a young stag}. Look! {He is} standing behind our wall, gazing {through} the window, looking {through} the lattice.

For look! The winter is over; {the rainy season} {has turned and gone away}.

The blossoms {appear} {in the land}; {the time of singing has arrived}; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

My dove, in the clefts of the rock, {in the secluded place} {in the mountain}, Let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice [is] sweet and your face [is] lovely.

Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes destroying vineyards, for our vineyards [are in] blossom!

What [is] this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?

Look! [It is] Solomon's {portable couch}! Sixty mighty men surround {it}, the mighty men of Israel.

He made its column of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior is inlaid [with] leather by {the maidens of Jerusalem}.

{Oh my}! You [are] beautiful, my beloved! {Oh my}! You [are] beautiful! Your eyes [are] doves from behind your veil. Your hair [is] like a flock of goats that move down from the mountains of Gilead.

Your teeth [are] like a flock of shorn ewes that came up from the washing, all of them bearing twins, and there is none bereaved among them.

Your lips [are] like a thread of crimson, and your mouth [is] lovely. Your temple [is] like pomegranate from behind your veil.

Your neck [is] like the tower of David, built in courses; a thousand {ornaments} are hung on it, all the shields of the warriors.

How beautiful is your love, my sister bride! How better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!

Your lips drip nectar, [my] bride; honey and milk [are] under your lips; the scent of your garments [is] like the scent of Lebanon.

A garden locked [is] my sister bride, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.

I [was] asleep but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved knocking! "Open to me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one! For my head is full of dew, {my hair drenched from the moist night air}."

{How is your beloved better than another lover}, O most beautiful among women? {How is your beloved better than another lover}, that you adjure us thus?

My beloved [is] radiant and {ruddy}, distinguished {among} ten thousand.

His head [is] gold, refined gold; his locks [are] wavy, black as a raven.

His arms [are] {rods} of gold {engraved with} jewels; his belly [is] polished ivory covered with sapphires.

His legs [are] columns of alabaster, set on bases of gold; his appearance [is] like Lebanon, choice as {its cedars}.

{His mouth} [is] sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This [is] my beloved; this [is] my friend, {O young women of Jerusalem}.

You [are] beautiful, my beloved, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, {overwhelming as an army with banners}.

Turn away your eyes from before me, for they overwhelm me. Your hair [is] like a flock of the goats that moves down from Gilead.

Your teeth [are] like a flock of the ewes that have come up from the washing, all of them bearing twins, and there is none bereaved among them.

My dove, {she is the one}; my perfect, {she is the only one}; she [is] {the favorite of} her mother who bore her. Maidens see her and consider her fortunate; queens and concubines praise her:

"Who [is] this that looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, {bright as the sun}, {overwhelming as an army with banners}?"

Turn, turn, O Shulammite! Turn, turn so that we may look upon you! Why do you look upon the Shulammite as [at] a dance of the two armies?

Your navel [is] {a round wine-mixing bowl} that does not lack mixed wine! Your belly [is] a heap of wheat encircled with lilies.

Your neck [is] like a tower of ivory; your eyes [are] pools in Heshbon at the gate of Beth Rabbim. Your nose [is] like the tower of Lebanon {looking out over Damascus}.

{Your head crowns you like Carmel}; the flowing locks of your head [are] like {purple tapestry}; a king is held captive in the tresses!

{Your stature} [is] like the palm tree, and your breasts [are] like clusters.

Your palate [is] like the best wine that goes down for my beloved, smoothly gliding over my lips and teeth.

Come, my beloved, let us {go out to the countryside}; let us spend the night in the villages.

Let us rise early [to go] to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine has budded, [whether] the grape blossom has opened, and [whether] the pomegranates {are in bloom}; there I will give my love to you.

The mandrakes give [off their] fragrance, and {over our doorway is every kind of delicious fruit}; both {fresh and dried fruit I have stored up} for you, O my beloved.

His left [hand is] under my head, and his right [hand] embraces me.

Who [is] this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother {conceived you}; there she who was in labor gave birth to you.

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love [is] strong as death; passion [is] fierce as Sheol; its flashes [are] flashes of fire; [it is] a blazing flame.

{We have a little sister}, {and she does not yet have any breasts}. What should we do for our sister {on the day when she is betrothed}?

If she [is] a wall, {we will adorn her with a turret of silver}; but if she [is] a door, we will barricade her with boards of cedar.

The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Why do you want to be beaten again? You continue [in] rebellion. [The] whole of [the] head [is] sick, and [the] whole of [the] heart [is] faint.

From the sole of the foot and up to [the] head there is no health in it; bruise and sore and bleeding wound have not been cleansed, and they have not been bound up and not softened with the oil.

Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned [with] fire; [As for] your land, aliens are devouring it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, like devastation [by] foreigners.

And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a city that is besieged.

If Yahweh of hosts had not left us survivors, we would have been as few as Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah.

What [is the] abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I have had enough [of] burnt offerings of rams and [the] fat [of] fattened animals and I do not delight in [the] blood of bulls and ram-lambs and goats.

You must not {continue} to bring offerings of futility, incense--it [is] an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, [the] calling of a convocation-- I cannot endure iniquity with [solemn] assembly.

"Come now, and let us argue," says Yahweh. "Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow; even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Your silver has become [as] dross; Your wine [is] diluted with waters.

And I will restore your judges, as at the first, and your counselors, as at the beginning. After this {you will be called} the city of righteousness, faithful city.