There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still.

I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.

So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?

Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

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.

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

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

For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.

Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?

So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.

But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.

For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.

And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

A poor yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction.

I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who replaces him.

There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is vanity and striving after wind.

After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on?

This also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind?

Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction.

Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is.

For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life? He will spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

Wisdom along with an inheritance is good
And an advantage to those who see the sun.

Consider the work of God,
For who is able to straighten what He has bent?

I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.

Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

What has been is remote and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it?

And I discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam.

Since the word of the king is authoritative, who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.

If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?

No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.

So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.

There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.

It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear.

Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.

He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.

Yet the fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after him?

He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim;

then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.