The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;

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

There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going:

If you have been foolish by exalting yourself, and if you have devised evil, [put your] hand to [your] mouth.

The words of Lemuel the king, - the strain which was taught him by his mother: -

Lest they being drunken forget the law, and regard not the cause of the poor, and of all such as be in adversity.

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

Let him have drink, and his need will go from his mind, and the memory of his trouble will be gone.

Let your mouth be open for those who have no voice, in the cause of those who are ready for death.

Let your mouth be open, judging rightly, and give right decisions in the cause of the poor and those in need.

She considers a field before she buys or accepts it [expanding her business prudently];
With her profits she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

Her husband is much set by in the gates, when he sitteth among the rulers of the land.

She makes [fine] linen garments and sells them;
And supplies sashes to the merchants.

Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired);
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying,

Many daughters there be that gather riches together, but thou goest above them all.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

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

What advantage is to man by all his labour that he laboureth at under the sun?

Going unto the south, and turning round unto the north, turning round, turning round, the wind is going, and by its circuits the wind hath returned.

All these things are wearying; a man is not able to speak, the eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor filled is the ear from hearing.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

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

That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

I sought in my heart to drag my flesh with wine, yet leading my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see where the good for the sons of men might be, what they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.

I got together silver and gold and the wealth of kings and of countries. I got makers of song, male and female; and the delights of the sons of men--girls of all sorts to be my brides.

So I became great and excelled more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.

And nothing which was desired by my eyes did I keep from them; I did not keep any joy from my heart, because my heart took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward.

When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the man be like who comes after the king? He will do what has already been done.

Then I said to myself, “As it happens to the fool, so death will also happen to me. What use is it then for me to be extremely wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This too is vanity (meaningless).”

For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

Thus began I to be weary of my life, in so much that I could away with nothing that is done under the Sun, for all was but vanity and vexation of mind:

Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.

So I came to be in despair about everything I had accomplished on earth.

For there is a man whose labour hath been with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill, and who leaveth it to a man that hath not laboured therein, to be his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

For what hath been to a man by all his labour, and by the thought of his heart that he laboured at under the sun?

Is it not better then for a man to eat and drink, and his soul to be merry in his labour? Yea I saw that this also was a gift of God:

For who can eat, or who be eager, more than I?

He giveth unto man, what it pleaseth him; whether it be wisdom, understanding, or gladness. But unto the sinner he giveth weariness and sorrow, that he may gather and heap together the thing, that afterward shall be given unto him whom it pleaseth God. This is now a vain thing, yea a very disquietness and vexation of mind.

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones. A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing.

A time to rend, And a time to sew. A time to be silent, And a time to speak.

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long as they live;

yea, even every man who eateth and hath drunk and seen good by all his labour, it is a gift of God.

I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

I also examined on earth: where the halls of justice were supposed to be, there was lawlessness; and where the righteous were supposed to be, there was lawlessness. 17I told myself, "God will judge both the righteous and the wicked, because there is a time set to judge every event and every work."

I said in my heart, God will be judge of the good and of the bad; because a time for every purpose and for every work has been fixed by him.

I said to myself regarding the sons of men, “God is surely testing them in order for them to see that [by themselves, without God] they are [only] animals.”

All go to one place, all are of the dust, and all will be turned to dust again.

Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Wherefore I judged those that are dead, to be more happy than such as be alive.

Yea, him that is yet unborn to be better at ease than they both, because he seeth not the miserable works that are done under the Sun.

Again, I considered all labor, and every right work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

The fool folds his hands [together] and consumes his own flesh [destroying himself by idleness and apathy].

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.

The two are better than the one, in that they have a good reward by their labour.

And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper.

Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?

And two attacked by one would be safe, and three cords twisted together are not quickly broken.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

For out of prison he came forth to be king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor.

I saw all the living under the sun round the young man who was to be ruler in place of the king.

There was no end to all of his subjects or to all of the people who had come before them. But those who come along afterward will not be happy with him. This is also pointless and a chasing after wind.

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

Because much talk comes from dreams and things of no purpose. But let the fear of God be in you.

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

A labouring man sleepeth sweetly, whether it be little or much that he eateth; but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely , riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:

But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion.

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.

He will not give much thought to the days of his life; because God lets him be taken up with the joy of his heart.

If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

All the labor of man for his mouth, and also the soul shall not be filled.

So do the wise [really] have an advantage over fools? {Can the poor [really] gain anything by knowing how to act in front of others}?

{Better to be content with what your eyes see than for your soul to constantly crave more}. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

Whatever is--it was already determined, {what will be--it has already been decided}. As for man, he cannot argue against what is more powerful than him.

Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.

The end of a matter [is] better than its beginning; {better to be slow to anger than hot-headed}.

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.