Discipline your children, and they will give you rest, and they will give delight to your soul.

[There is] a generation--how lofty [are] their eyes! And their eyelids they will lift.

This peoples' teeth are swords, and with their jawbones they consume and devour the simple of the earth, and the poor from among men.

For the leech, [there are] two daughters; "Give, give!" [they cry]. As for three of these, they are not satisfied; as for four, they do not say enough.

The afterlife, the barren womb, earth that still demands water, and fire they never say, "Enough".

They three were wonderful above me; and four, I knew them not:

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

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

Spiders can be caught by the hand, yet they're found in kings' palaces.

There are three things which are stately in their march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:

Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

that they may drink it, and forget their misery and adversity.

Her sons rose up and they will call her happy; her husband, and he will praise her.

Give to her from the fruit of her hand, and may they praise her works in the city gates.

What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth?

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

No one remembers those in the past, nor will they be remembered by those who come after them.

Thus I have considered all the things that come to pass under the Sun, and lo, they are all but vanity and vexation of mind.

I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

I got men-servants and women-servants, and they gave birth to sons and daughters in my house. I had great wealth of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

I neither withheld anything from my eyes that they desired, nor did I deprive any pleasure from my heart. My heart rejoiced in all my toil, for this was my reward from all my toil.

And I turned to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what is the man who cometh after the king? that which is already -- they have done it!

For a wise man beareth his eyes about in his head, but the fool goeth in the darkness. I perceived also that they both had one end.

All this hath he ordained marvelous goodly, to every thing his due time. He hath planted ignorance also in the hearts of men, that they should not find out the ground of his works, which he doth from the beginning to the end.

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

I have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God hath wrought that they do fear before Him.

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

They go all unto one place, for as they be all of dust, so shall they all turn unto dust again.

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

And I praise the dead already dead more than the living they yet living.

Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

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

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

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

I saw all the living that walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead.

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

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.

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.

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

For oft times they perish with his great misery and trouble: and if he have a child it getteth nothing.

If a man doth beget a hundred, and live many years, and is great, because they are the days of his years, and his soul is not satisfied from the goodness, and also he hath not had a grave, I have said, 'Better than he is the untimely birth.'

Furthermore, though they never saw the sun nor learned anything, they are more content than the other.

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

For no one knows what is best for a person during his life -- during the few days of his fleeting life -- for they pass away like a shadow. Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth.

Say not thou, "What is the cause that the days of the old time were better than they that be now?" For that were no wise question.

Also to all the words that they speak give not thy heart, that thou hear not thy servant reviling thee.

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, because they fear before him;

But it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not prolong [their] days, like the shadow; because there is no fearing {God's presence}.

There is a meaningless and futile thing which is done on the earth: that is, there are righteous men whose gain is as though they were evil, and evil men whose gain is as though they were righteous. I say that this too is futility (meaningless, vain).

In light of all of this, I committed myself to explain it this way: the righteous and the wise, along with everything they do, are in the hands of God. Furthermore, as to love and hate, no human being knows everything concerning them.

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

And why? As long as a man liveth, he is careless: for a quick dog, say they, is better than a dead lion.

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

For also man knew not his time: as the fishes being laid hold of in an evil net, and as the birds laid hold of in the snare, as they, the sons of men being snared for an evil time, as it will fall upon them suddenly.

A fool also makes many words; a man knows not what they shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

The labour of fools wearieth them, because they know not how to go to the city.

For mirth they are making a feast, And wine maketh life joyful, And the silver answereth with all.

If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

and the doors are shut toward the street; when the sound of the grinding is subdued, and they rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low;

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

The words of the wise are as goads, and the collections of them as nails fastened in: they are given from one shepherd.

For God shall judge all works and secret things, whether they be good or evil.

Draw me; we will run after thee: The king hath brought me into his chambers; We will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee.

Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs, And the vines are in blossom; They give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

They watching going about in the city, found me: Saw ye him that my soul loved?

They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, which came up from the washing; they all are bearing twins and not one is barren among them.

The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.

His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the water brooks, as though they were washed with milk and set like pearls in gold.

(The Chorus)“Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where is your beloved hiding himself,
That we may seek him with you?”

Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of ewes which go up from the washing; they all are bearing twins, and a barren one is not among them.

They are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and maidens no number.

My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.

(The Chorus)
“Return, return, O Shulammite;
Return, return, that we may gaze at you.”

Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! Should I find thee without, I would kiss thee; And they would not despise me.

(The Chorus)
“Who is this coming up from the wilderness
Leaning upon her beloved?”

Many waters are not able to quench the love, And floods do not wash it away. If one give all the wealth of his house for love, Treading down -- they tread upon it.

THEYA sister, have we, a little one, and, breasts, hath she none, What shall we do for our sister, in the day when she may be spoken for?

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

"Your country lies desolate; your cities have been incinerated. Before your very eyes, foreigners are devouring your land they've brought devastation on it, while the land is overthrown by foreigners.

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me [without your repentance]?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of [your] burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of well-fed cattle [without your obedience];
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats [offered without repentance].

Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

How was the faithful city for a harlot! I filled with judgment; justice will lodge in her; and now they are killing

Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

I will restore your judges to what they once were,
and your advisers to their former state.
Afterward you will be called the Righteous City,
a Faithful City.”