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

hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

a lizard can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.

Three things are stately in their stride,
even four are stately in their walk:

If you have been foolish by exalting yourself
or if you’ve been scheming,
put your hand over your mouth.

Don’t spend your energy on women
or your efforts on those who destroy kings.

It is not for kings, Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine
or for rulers to desire beer.

Speak up for those who have no voice,
for the justice of all who are dispossessed.

She draws on her strength
and reveals that her arms are strong.

She sees that her profits are good,
and her lamp never goes out at night.

She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all in her household are doubly clothed.

Her husband is known at the city gates,
where he sits among the elders of the land.

Strength and honor are her clothing,
and she can laugh at the time to come.

“Many women are capable,
but you surpass them all!”

The sun rises and the sun sets;
panting, it returns to its place
where it rises.

All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
The streams are flowing to the place,
and they flow there again.

All things are wearisome;
man is unable to speak.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing
or the ear filled with hearing.

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

I said to myself, “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.”

I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned many herds of cattle and flocks, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me.

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.

I know that all God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of Him.

I said to myself, “This happens concerning people, so that God may test them and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.”

All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them.

So I admired the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive.

There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “So who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself from good?” This too is futile and a miserable task.

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

There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to draw near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.

Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.

For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for man?

Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,
for anger abides in the heart of fools.

Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?”
since it is not wise of you to ask this.

Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.

Don’t pay attention to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,

For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though man’s troubles are heavy on him.

In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they did so. This too is futile.

Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before Him.

However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.

There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night),

Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands.People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.

Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.

Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.

Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.

For man certainly does not know his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

The calm words of the wise are heeded
more than the shouts of a ruler over fools.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much good.

If the ruler’s anger rises against you, don’t leave your place,
for calmness puts great offenses to rest.

The words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious,
but the lips of a fool consume him.

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

Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles
and your princes feast at the proper time—
for strength and not for drunkenness.

Do not curse the king even in your thoughts,
and do not curse a rich person even in your bedroom,
for a bird of the sky may carry the message,
and a winged creature may report the matter.

Send your bread on the surface of the waters,
for after many days you may find it.

Give a portion to seven or even to eight,
for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth.

If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth;
whether a tree falls to the south or the north,
the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

Just as you don’t know the path of the wind,
or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman,
so you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.

In the morning sow your seed,
and at evening do not let your hand rest,
because you don’t know which will succeed,
whether one or the other,
or if both of them will be equally good.

Rejoice, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth.
And walk in the ways of your heart
and in the sight of your eyes;
but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.

Remove sorrow from your heart,
and put away pain from your flesh,
because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.

So remember your Creator in the days of your youth:

Before the days of adversity come,
and the years approach when you will say,
“I have no delight in them”;

before the sun and the light are darkened,
and the moon and the stars,
and the clouds return after the rain;

on the day when the guardians of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
the women who grind cease because they are few,
and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly,

the doors at the street are shut
while the sound of the mill fades;
when one rises at the sound of a bird,
and all the daughters of song grow faint.

Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road;
the almond tree blossoms,
the grasshopper loses its spring,
and the caper berry has no effect;
for man is headed to his eternal home,
and mourners will walk around in the street;

The sayings of the wise are like goads, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd.

For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

W Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is more delightful than wine.

The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;
your name is perfume poured out.
No wonder young women adore you.

Take me with you—let us hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring me to his chambers.

Y We will rejoice and be glad for you;
we will praise your love more than wine.

W It is only right that they adore you.

Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me a keeper of the vineyards.
I have not kept my own vineyard.

Tell me, you, the one I love:
Where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you let them rest at noon?
Why should I be like one who veils herself
beside the flocks of your companions?

M If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,
follow the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.

Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,
your neck with its necklace.

M How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.

W How handsome you are, my love.
How delightful!
Our bed is lush with foliage;

the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.

>

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.

My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.

The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.

My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.

(W) Catch the foxes for us—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.

Before the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
turn to me, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the divided mountains.

>

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.

All of them are skilled with swords
and trained in warfare.
Each has his sword at his side
to guard against the terror of the night.

M How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Behind your veil,
your eyes are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.

Your lips are like a scarlet cord,
and your mouth is lovely.
Behind your veil,
your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.