Do not eat the bread of {the stingy}, and do not desire his delicacies.

For, like hair in his {throat}, so it is. "Eat and drink!" he will say to you, but his heart will not be with you.

Your morsel you have eaten, you will vomit it up, and you will waste your pleasant words.

And my {insides} will rejoice when your lips speak what is upright.

Buy truth and do not sell [it], wisdom and instruction and understanding.

She [is] also like a robber lying in wait, and the faithless among mankind she increases.

Do not look at wine when it is red, when it {sparkles} on the cup, going down smoothly.

{In the end}, it will bite like a serpent, and it will sting like an adder.

"They struck me; I was not hurt. They beat me; I did not know [it]. When I will awake, I will continue; I will seek it again."

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.

Wisdom [is too] high for fools; at the gate he will not open his mouth.

if you say, "Look, we do not know this," does not he who weighs hearts perceive [it]? And he who keeps your soul, he knows and will repay humankind according to his deeds.

My child, eat honey, for [it is] good, and the dripping of the honeycomb [is] sweet to your taste.

Thus know wisdom for [the sake of] your soul, if you find [it], then there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

Do not lie in wait [like] an outlaw against the home of the righteous; do not do violence [to] his dwelling place.

lest Yahweh see and [it] be evil in his eyes, and turn his anger away from him.

For there will not be a future for the evil; the lamp of the wicked will die out.

Prepare your work in the street and get it ready for yourself in the field; afterward, then you shall build your house.

and behold, it was overgrown--all of it was covered [with] thorns, its surface with nettles, and {its stone wall} was broken down.

The glory of God conceals things, but the glory of kings searches out things.

Remove the dross from silver, and it will become a vessel for the smith.

For [it is] better [that] he say to you, "Ascend here," than he humble you before a noble. What your eyes have seen,

do not hastily bring out to court, for what will you do at its end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?

Apples of gold in a setting of silver is a matter spoken at its proper time.

[If] you find honey, eat what is sufficient for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it out.

To eat much honey is not good, nor [is] seeking one's honor honorable.

Like snow in the summer and like rain at the harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

A lazy person buries his hands in the dish; he is [too] tired to return it to his mouth.

For lack of wood, a fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling will cease.

[As] charcoal [is] to hot embers and wood [is] to fire, so a man of quarrels [is] to kindling strife.

He who digs a pit, in it he will fall, and he who rolls a stone, on him it will come back.

Do not boast {about tomorrow}, for you do not know what the day will bring.

He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.

If you crush a fool in the mortar with the pestle {along with} the crushed grain, it will not drive folly from upon him.

By the rebellion of a land, her rulers increase, but by a person of intelligence who knows justice, it will last.

He who augments his wealth with interest and with usury gathers it for him who is kind to the poor.

By justice a king gives stability [to] a land, but a man of bribes will ruin it.

Who has ascended [to] heaven and come down? Who has gathered [the] wind in the hollow of his hand? Who has wrapped water in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What [is] his name and what is the name of his child? For [surely] you know.

Do not add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

[There is] a generation [that] will curse its father, and its mother it will not bless.

[There is] a generation [that is] pure in its own eyes, but from its filthiness it will not be cleansed.

The eye [that] mocks a father and scorns the obedience of a mother-- the ravens of the valley will peck it out, and the offspring of vultures will eat it.

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

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

the badgers [are] a people [who are] not mighty, yet they set their house on the rock;

there is no king for the locust, yet it marches in rank;

a lizard you [can] seize with hands, yet it is in palaces of kings.

What, my son? And what, my son in my womb? And what, son of my vows?

[It is] not for the kings, O Lemuel; drinking wine [is] not for the kings, nor [is] strong drink for rulers.

Or else he will drink and forget what has been decreed, and he will pervert the rights of all the {afflicted}.

And she arises while [it is] still night, and gives food to her household, and tasks to her servant girls.

She considers a field and buys it, from the fruit of {her hand} she plants a vineyard.

She perceives that her merchandise [is] good; her lamp does not go out in the night.

Her palm she opens to the poor, and her hand she reaches [out] to the needy.

She does not fear for her house [when] it snows, for {her entire household} is clothed [in] crimson.

Her husband is known at the gates, in his seat among the elders of the land.

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs {at the future}.

She looks after the ways of her household, and the bread of idleness she will not eat.

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

The sun rises, and the sun goes down; to its place it hurries, and there it rises again.

The wind goes to the south and goes around to the north; around and around it goes, and on its circuit the wind returns.

What has been--it is what will be; what has been done--it is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.

There is a thing [of] which it is said, "Look at this! This is new!" [But] it already existed in ages past before us.

I applied my mind to seek and to search by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. It [is] a grievous task God has given to {humans}.

What is twisted cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said {to myself}, "Come! I will test pleasure {to see whether it is worthwhile}." But look, "This also [is] vanity!"

I said of laughter, "[It is] folly!" and of pleasure, "{What does it accomplish?}"

I also {explored} {the effects of indulging my flesh} with wine. My mind guiding me with wisdom, {I investigated} folly so that I might discover what [is] good under heaven for {humans} to do {during the days of their lives}.

Yet when I considered all the effort which I expended and the toil with which I toiled to do, then behold, "Everything [is] vanity and chasing wind! There is nothing profitable under the sun!"

Next, I considered wisdom, as well as delusion and folly. What can anyone [do] who will come after the king that has not already been 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 said {to myself}, "{If I also suffer the same fate as the fool}, {what advantage is my great wisdom}?" So I said {to myself}, "This also [is] vanity!"

Certainly no one will remember the wise man or the fool in {future generations}. When [future] days come, both will have been forgotten already. How [is it that] the wise man dies the same as the fool?

So I hated all my toil with which I have toiled under the sun, for I must leave it behind to someone who will be after me.

And who knows [whether] he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will exercise control of all [the fruit of] my toil with which I toiled wisely under the sun. This also [is] vanity!

For although a person may toil with great wisdom and skill, he must leave his reward to someone who has not toiled for it. This also [is] vanity and a great calamity.

For what does a person receive for all his toil and in the longing of his heart with which he toils under the sun?

All his days [are] painful, his labor [brings] grief, and his heart cannot rest at night. This also [is] vanity!

There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God!

For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him?

For to the person who [is] good in his eyes, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and heaping up only to give [it] to [him who is] pleasing to him. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

a time to bear and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to root up [what is] planted;

What does the worker gain in his toil?

He has made everything suitable in its time. He also has put {the past} in their hearts, yet no one can grasp what God does from the beginning to the end.

And for anyone to eat and drink, that is, {to enjoy the fruit of all his toil}, this also is a gift of God.

I know everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it, for God so acts that humans might stand in awe before him.

What is--it already was, and what will be--it already is, for {God will do what he has done.}

So I concluded that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy [the fruit of] his labor, for this is his lot in life. {For no one knows what will happen in the future.}

But better [off] than both of them is the one who has not yet been born and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

I also realized that all [of the] toil and all [of] the skillful work that is done--it [is] envy between one man and {another}. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

{The fool refuses to work with his hands, so he has nothing to eat except his own skin}!

Sometimes a man is all alone with no companion; he also has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eye is not satisfied with wealth. [He laments,] "For whom am I toiling and depriving {myself} of pleasure?" This also [is] vanity--it is an unhappy business!

For he came out of the prison house to reign, {since he was born poor in his kingdom}.

There is no end to all the people, to all who were before him. Yet the later generation will not rejoice in him, for this also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for {he takes no pleasure} in fools. Fulfill what you vow!

It is better that you not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.

Do not let your mouth lead your flesh into sin, and do not tell the messenger that it [was] a mistake. Why anger God at your words, so that he destroys the work of your hands?

When prosperity increases, those who consume it increase. {So its owner gains nothing, except to see his wealth before it is spent}.

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?

Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and {to enjoy} all [the fruit of] the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him--for this [is] his lot.