A foolish man lets out all his wrath, but a wise man keeps it back quietly.

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?

The eye which makes sport of a father, and sees no value in a mother when she is old will be rooted out by the ravens of the valley, and be food for the young eagles.

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

The locusts have no king, but they all go out in bands;

You may take the lizard in your hands, but it is in kings' houses.

What am I to say to you, O Lemuel, my oldest son? and what, O son of my body? and what, O son of my oaths?

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to take wine, or for rulers to say, Where is strong drink?

She gets wool and linen, working at the business of her hands.

She gets up while it is still night, and gives meat to her family, and their food to her servant-girls.

After looking at a field with care, she gets it for a price, planting a vine-garden with the profit of her work.

She sees that her marketing is of profit to her: her light does not go out by night.

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

Her mouth is open to give out wisdom, and the law of mercy is on her tongue.

She gives attention to the ways of her family, she does not take her food without working for it.

Give her credit for what her hands have made: let her be praised by her works in the public place.

What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?

Is there anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was before us.

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 said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.

Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy--What use is it?

I made a search with my heart to give pleasure to my flesh with wine, still guiding my heart with wisdom, and to go after foolish things, so that I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life.

And I went again in search of wisdom and of foolish ways. What may the man do who comes after the king? The thing which he has done before.

Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.

Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.

What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?

What profit has the worker in the work which he does?

I am certain that whatever God does will be for ever. No addition may be made to it, nothing may be taken from it; and God has done it so that man may be in fear before him.

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

I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.

So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

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.

Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.

It is one who is by himself, without a second, and without son or brother; but there is no end to all his work, and he has never enough of wealth. For whom, then, am I working and keeping myself from pleasure? This again is to no purpose, and a bitter work.

Because out of a prison the young man comes to be king, though by birth he was only a poor man in the kingdom.

Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.

When you take an oath before God, put it quickly into effect, because he has no pleasure in the foolish; keep the oath you have taken.

It is better not to take an oath than to take an oath and not keep it.

Let not your mouth make your flesh do evil. And say not before the angel, It was an error. So that God may not be angry with your words and put an end to the work of your hands.

It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.

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

As he came from his mother at birth, so does he go again; he gets from his work no reward which he may take away in his hand.

And this again is a great evil, that in all points as he came so will he go; and what profit has he in working for the wind?

This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.

Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;

A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.

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.

In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.

Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.

What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?

What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.

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

Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?

It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.

It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?

In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.

It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.

All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.

Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?

For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.

This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.

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

No one is certain what is to be, and who is able to say to him when it will be?

And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.

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.

But it will not be well for the evil-doer; he will not make his days long like a shade, because he has no fear before God.

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.

Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.

Let your clothing be white at all times, and let not your head be without oil.

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.

This again I have seen under the sun as wisdom and it seemed great to me.

There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.

Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give out an evil smell; more valued is a little wisdom than the great glory of the foolish.

He who makes a hole for others will himself go into it, and for him who makes a hole through a wall the bite of a snake will be a punishment.

He who gets out stones from the earth will be damaged by them, and in the cutting of wood there is danger.

If the iron has no edge, and he does not make it sharp, then he has to put out more strength; but wisdom makes things go well.

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?

Happy is the land whose ruler is of noble birth, and whose chiefs take food at the right time, for strength and not for feasting.

Say not a curse against the king, even in your thoughts; and even secretly say not a curse against the man of wealth; because a bird of the air will take the voice, and that which has wings will give news of it.

Put out your bread on the face of the waters; for after a long time it will come back to you again.

Give a part to seven or even to eight, because you have no knowledge of the evil which will be on the earth.

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.

He who is watching the wind will not get the seed planted, and he who is looking at the clouds will not get in the grain.

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.

Truly the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

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;

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;

Before ever the silver cord is cut, or the vessel of gold is broken, or the pot is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the water-hole;

And the dust goes back to the earth as it was, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.

And because the Preacher was wise he still gave the people knowledge; searching out, testing, and putting in order a great number of wise sayings.

Sweet is the smell of your perfumes; your name is as perfume running out; so the young girls give you their love.

While the king is seated at his table, my spices send out their perfume.

As a bag of myrrh is my well-loved one to me, when he is at rest all night between my breasts.

As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my loved one among the sons. I took my rest under his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

I say to you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes of the field, do not let love be moved till it is ready.

My loved one is like a roe; see, he is on the other side of our wall, he is looking in at the windows, letting himself be seen through the spaces.