What advantage does man have from all his work
Which he does under the sun (while earthbound)?

I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.

I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom and experience, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.”

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time.” But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity (futility, self-conceit).

There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and assure himself that there is good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God.

For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

For the [earthly] fate of the sons of men and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no preeminence or advantage for man [in and of himself] over an animal, for all is vanity.

So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living.

Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor;

Again, if two lie down together, then they keep warm; but how can one be warm alone?

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept and hoarded by their owner to his own misery.

Behold, here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] reward.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men:

It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he.

I have seen everything during my [fleeting] days of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in [spite of] his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives a long life in [spite of] his wickedness.

Do not be excessively or willfully wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

for you also know that you too have cursed others many times.

I have tested all this with wisdom. I said, “I will be wise [independently of God],” but true wisdom was far from me.

“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “while adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand [who pleases God], but I have not found [such] a woman among all these [a thousand in my harem].

Behold, I have found only this [as a reason]: God made man upright and uncorrupted, but they [both men and women] have sought out many devices [for evil].”

All this I have seen while applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has exercised power over others to their detriment.

For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they no longer have a reward [here], for the memory of them is forgotten.

Indeed their love, their hatred and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share [in this age] in anything that is done under the sun.

This [illustration of] wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and great it was to me:

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceeds from the ruler—

I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the ground.

Remember [thoughtfully] also your Creator in the days of your youth [for you are not your own, but His], before the evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of physical pleasures], “I have no enjoyment and delight in them”;