Ecclesiastes

1.1 The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

1.2 Vanity of vanities, saith Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

1.3 What profit has a man in all his labor at which he labors under the sun?

1.4 A generation has passed away, and a generation has come, and the earth remains forever.

1.5 And the sun rose, and the sun came, and to his place he striveth, and shineth there.

1.6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns about to the north. It goes round and round, and the wind returns around it.

1.7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they return again.

1.8 All things shall be weary, no man shall be able to speak. the eye shall not be satisfied with seeing, neither shall the ear be filled with hearing.

1.9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. There is nothing new under the sun.

1.10 There is something that will say, "Look, this is new!" It has already been with the youth, which was before us.

1.11 There is no remembrance of the first, nor of the last that shall be. there shall be no remembrance of them that shall be after them.

1.12 I, Ecclesiastes, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

1.13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven. it is an evil thing that Alhym hath given to the children of men to do.

1.14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

1.15 A coin cannot be repaired, and a deficiency cannot be counted.

1.16 I spoke with my heart, saying, Behold, I have increased and increased wisdom above all that was before me for Jerusalem. and my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge.

1.17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and the knowledge of madness and folly. I knew that this also is the thought of the spirit.

1.18 For in much wisdom is much anger, and with increased knowledge comes increased grief.

2.1 I said in my heart, Go, I will drink with joy, and see good; and, behold, it also is vanity.

2.2 I said to the laughter, "What did it do?" And to the joy, "What did it do?"

2.3 I thought in my heart to drink my flesh with wine, and my heart to walk wisely, and to hold fast to folly, until I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their life.

2.4 I have enlarged my works; I have built me ​​houses, I have planted me vineyards.

2.5 I made me gardens and orchards, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

2.6 I have made me pools of water to water a forest that grows trees.

2.7 I bought menservants and maidservants, and I had a household; I also had cattle and sheep in abundance, more than were before me in Jerusalem.

2.8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold, and the staff of kings, and the kingdoms; I made for myself ministers and servants, and the delight of men was field and fields.

2.9 And I grew and increased more than all that was before me in Jerusalem; and my wisdom stood before me.

2.10 And all that my eyes desired I did not shun; I did not withhold my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion in all my labor.

2.11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor that I had labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

2.12 And I turned to see wisdom, and folly, and folly. for what man is there that should come after the king, whom they have already done?

2.13 And I saw that wisdom excels folly, as light excels darkness.

2.14 The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. I also knew that one event will happen to them all.

2.15 And I said in my heart, As is the case with the fool, I also will be honored; and why then was I wiser than I, and said in my heart, This also is vanity?

2.16 For there is no remembrance of the wise with the fool for ever. in the days to come all shall be forgotten. and how shall the wise die with the fool?

2.17 And I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous unto me. for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

2.18 And I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun, because I would leave it to the man who would come after me.

2.19 And who knows whether the wise man will be wise or foolish, and will rule over all my labor in which I have labored and over which I have been wise under the sun? This too is vanity.

2.20 And I, being old, despaired of all my labor in which I had labored under the sun.

2.21 For there is a man who has labored in wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and to the man who has not labored in it his portion is given. This also is vanity and much evil.

2.22 For what has man got of all his labor and of the striving of his heart, with which he labors under the sun?

2.23 For all his days are filled with pain and anguish; his heart does not rest at night. This too is vanity.

2.24 There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I have seen, that it is from the hand of Alhym.

2.25 For who shall eat, and who shall feel, but I?

2.26 For to the good man he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives labor to gather and to hoard, to give to that which is good before Alhym. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

3.1 For every time and a season to every purpose under heaven

3.2 A time to give birth and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

3.3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build up.

3.4 A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance

3.5 A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.

3.6 A time to ask, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away.

3.7 A time to tear and a time to sew, a time to whisper and a time to speak.

3.8 A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

3.9 What advantage is there to him who works in his labor?

3.10 I have seen the matter which Alhym has given to the sons of men to answer.

3.11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also put the imagination of their hearts, so that no one can find out the work that Alhym has made from the beginning to the end.

3.12 I knew that there was nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good while they were alive.

3.13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and see good in all his labor, it is the gift of Alhym.

3.14 I know that whatever Alhym does, it will be forever. Nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. Alhym has made it so that people may fear before him.

3.15 That which has been has already been, and that which will be has already been, and Alhym will seek the persecuted.

3.16 And I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there was wickedness.

3.17 I said in my heart, Alhym will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every purpose and for every work.

3.18 I said in my heart, "Behold, I have spoken to the sons of men, and to the sons of Alhym, and to them that they are but beasts, what manner of beasts they are."

3.19 For the fate of man and the fate of beasts is the same, and they have the same fate, the same death, and they all have the same breath. So man has no advantage over beasts, for all is vanity.

3.20 All things go to one place; all things are from the dust, and all things return to the dust.

3.21 Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward, to the earth?

3.22 And I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion. for who can bring us to see what shall be after him?

4.1 Then I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. and, behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and the hand of their oppressors was powerless, and they had no comforter.

4.2 And I will praise the dead which are already dead, by the living which are alive for evermore.

4.3 And better than both is he who has not been born, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

4.4 And I saw all labor and all skill in work, that it was the envy of one man against another. this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

4.5 The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.

4.6 A handful of pleasant things is better than a handful of toil and vexation.

4.7 Then I returned, and saw vanity under the sun.

4.8 There is one, and there is no other; he has neither son nor brother; and there is no end to all his labor; his eyes are not satisfied with ten. And for whom do I labor, and deprive myself of good? This also is vanity and an evil thing.

4.9 Two are better than one, having a good reward for their labor.

4.10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but if one falls, there is no one to lift him up.

4.11 Even if two lie down and it is warm for them, how can one be warm?

4.12 And if one shall prevail, two shall withstand him. and a threefold cord shall not quickly be broken.

4.13 Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to be careful.

4.14 For out of the house of the Syrians came forth a king. for in his kingdom also was born a king.

4.15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun with the second child who will stand in his place.

4.16 There is no end to all the people, to all that was before them; neither shall the latter rejoice in it. for this also is vanity and a vain imagination.

4.17 Guard your feet when you go to the house of Alhym, and do not listen to the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know how to do evil.

5.1 Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before Alhym. For Alhym is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

5.2 For a dream cometh with many things, and the voice of a fool with many words.

5.3 When you vow a vow to Alhym, do not delay in paying it, for fools do not desire what they vow.

5.4 It is good that you do not delay, and you do not pay.

5.5 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not say before the angel, "It is an error." Why should Alhym be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

5.6 For in many dreams and vanities and many words, because he fears Alhym.

5.7 If you see oppression and oppression and the taking away of justice and righteousness in the land, do not be surprised at the thing, for it is guarded by a high tower above a high tower, and by high places above them.

5.8 And the advantage of the land is in all things a king for a cultivated field.

5.9 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, and he who loves abundance will not be satisfied with grain. This too is vanity.

5.10 In the abundance of good things, the eaters thereof are multiplied. and what is the merit of the possessor thereof, except thou seest his eyes?

5.11 Sweet is the sleep of a servant, whether he eat little or much. but the satiety of the rich suffereth him not to sleep.

5.12 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, ten things kept for their owners to their hurt.

5.13 And that rich man perished in evil. and he begat a son, and he had nothing.

5.14 As he came out of his mother's womb naked, he shall return as he came, and shall carry nothing in his hand for his labor, to go with him.

5.15 And this also is an evil, and every one that cometh shall go, and what profit is it to him that he laboureth for the wind?

5.16 All his days he shall eat in darkness, and be very angry, and have pain, and be angry.

5.17 Behold, I have seen that it is good. to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labor in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life, which Alhym has given him; for that is his portion.

5.18 And every man to whom Alhym hath given riches and wealth, and hath made him to eat thereof, and to bear his portion, and to rejoice in his labour. this is the gift of Alhym.

5.19 For he will not remember many of the days of his life, because Alhym will punish him in the joy of his heart.

6.1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is great upon man.

6.2 A man to whom Alhym gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires, and yet Alhym does not command him to eat of it, because a stranger eats it, this is vanity and a grievous sickness.

6.3 If a man beget a hundred years, and live many years, and his days be many, and his soul be not satisfied with good, neither is there any burial for him; I say, he that falleth is better than he.

6.4 For he comes in vanity, and he departs in darkness, and darkness covers his name.

6.5 Neither did the sun see nor know the rest of the world.

6.6 And if he lives a thousand years and sees no good, does not everything go to one place?

6.7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and the soul is not satisfied.

6.8 For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? What advantage has the poor man over the poor?

6.9 The sight of the eyes is good, but the way of the soul is vanity and vexation of spirit.

6.10 That which was already called by its name, and was known to be a man, and could not judge a people that was stronger than it.

6.11 For there are many things which are more than vanity, which is more to man.

6.12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, to number the days of his life, and to make them as a shadow? Who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

7.1 A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

7.2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all man, and the living shall give to his heart.

7.3 It is good to play with anger, for in the face of evil the heart is made better.

7.4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

7.5 It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than to hear the song of fools.

7.6 For as the noise of pots under a pot, so the fool's play is; this also is vanity.

7.7 For the oppressor mocks the wise, and destroys the heart of the gifted.

7.8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning. but he that is slow to anger is better than he that is hasty.

7.9 Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

7.10 Do not say, "The former days were better than these," for you have not asked this wisely.

7.11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and a reward for seeing the sun.

7.12 For wisdom is a shield, and money is a shield, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom will keep its owner alive.

7.13 Consider the work of Alhym. for who can make right that which he hath made right?

7.14 In the good day he was in good, and in the evil day he saw this also against this. Alhym made it according to his word that man should find nothing after him.

7.15 I have seen it all in the days of vanity. there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his wickedness.

7.16 Do not be overly righteous, nor overly wise, for you will be destroyed.

7.17 Do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish; why should you die before your time?

7.18 It is good that you hold fast to this, and from this also do not withdraw your hand; for the fear of Alhym will bring them all out.

7.19 Wisdom is more wise than ten rulers who are in the city.

7.20 For there is not a righteous man on earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

7.21 Also, do not give your heart to all the words that they may speak, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you.

7.22 For your heart also knows that you have often cursed others.

7.23 I have tried all this with wisdom; I said, "I will be wise," but it is far from me.

7.24 Far away what was and deep valley who will find us?

7.25 I have applied my heart to know and to seek, and to seek wisdom and understanding, and to know the wickedness of the wicked, and the follies of the foolish.

7.26 And I find the woman more bitter than death, whose heart is snared and robbed, whose hands are bound. The good before Alhym shall escape from her, and the sinner shall be taken by her.

7.27 Behold, I have found this, saith Ecclesiastes, one by one, to find out the account.

7.28 For yet my soul sought, but I found not one man among a thousand. and a woman among all these have I not found.

7.29 Only behold, this I have found, that Alhym made man upright. and they sought many understandings.

8.1 Who is like the wise, and who knows the meaning of a matter? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, but his pride is hated.

8.2 I am the king's mouth guarded, and the word of the oath of Alhym.

8.3 Do not be afraid of him, go, do not stand in any evil thing, for he will do whatever he pleases.

8.4 For the word of a king is power, and who can say to him, What shall he do?

8.5 He who keeps the commandment knows no evil, and a wise heart knows time and judgment.

8.6 For to every purpose there is a time and a judgment. for the evil of man is great upon him.

8.7 For he knoweth not what shall be. for when it shall be, who shall tell him?

8.8 There is no man who has power over the spirit to confine the spirit, nor is there any authority in the day of death, nor is there any delegation in war, nor does the wicked deliver his owners.

8.9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun, while man has dominated man to his own harm.

8.10 Then I saw the wicked graves, and they came and went from the holy place, and forgot themselves in the city, which they had done in vain.

8.11 Because a proverb does not hasten to do evil, therefore the heart of men is fully set in them to do evil.

8.12 He who has sinned and done evil will continue to do so. For I know that it will be good for those who fear Alhym, who fear before him.

8.13 And it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days as a shadow, because he feareth not before Alhym.

8.14 There is vanity that is done upon the earth. there are righteous, to whom it shall come as the work of the wicked, and there are wicked, to whom it shall come as the work of the righteous. I said, This also is vanity.

8.15 And I commended joy, because man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, and that he may enjoy his labor all the days of his life which Alhym gives him under the sun.

8.16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth, that neither day nor night is a year in his sight.

8.17 And I saw all the work of Alhym, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun, because though man labour to seek, he shall not find it; and though the wise man shall say, I will know, he shall not find it.

9.1 ​​For all this I gave to my heart, and to know all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their servants are in the hand of Alhym, both love and hatred. man knoweth not all things before them.

9.2 All things are as in every case, both to the righteous and to the wicked, both to good and to the clean and to the unclean, both to sacrifice and to that which is not a sacrifice, as in good and in sin, he that sweareth, as in an oath, feareth.

9.3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, for one event happens to all. and also the heart of man is full of evil and profligacy in his heart while he lives, and after that he goes to the dead.

9.4 For he that chooseth all life is sure. for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

9.5 For the living know that they have died; but the dead know nothing, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.

9.6 Their love, their hatred, and their envy have already perished; they have no more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.

9.7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for Alhym has already accepted your works.

9.8 Let your garments always be white, and let no oil be lacking on your head.

9.9 Live with the wife whom you love all the days of your life, the days of your toil that he has given you under the sun, for that is your portion in life and in your labor at which you toil under the sun.

9.10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.

9.11 I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; for time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.

9.12 For man also knoweth not his time. as fish are caught in an evil snare, and as birds are caught in a snare, so are men stricken in an evil time, when it cometh suddenly upon them.

9.13 This also I have seen wisdom under the sun, and it is great unto me.

9.14 A small city, and few in number, came to it, and a great king besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.

9.15 And there was found therein a poor wise man, and he built the city by his wisdom, and no man remembered that poor man.

9.16 And I said, I am better than the mighty, and the wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard.

9.17 The words of the wise are heard in peace, but the cry of a ruler among fools is heard.

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

10.1 The flies of death shall come upon a man, and he shall pour out ointment of a costly ointment. for wisdom is more precious than honour, than folly is little.

10.2 A wise heart on his right hand, and a fool on his left.

10.3 And also on the way, as the fool went, his heart was troubled, and he said to every fool,

10.4 If the spirit of the governor comes upon you from your place, do not rest, for a healer will forgive great sins.

10.5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, as an error that proceedeth from the ruler.

10.6 Nathan has deceived many on high, and the rich have sat in the low places.

10.7 I saw slaves on horses and ministers walking like slaves on the ground.

10.8 He who digs a pit will fall into it, and a serpent will dwell in a breach in a fence.

10.9 He who hauls stones will shape them, he who splits trees will make them dangerous.

10.10 If the iron is blunt and not a face that is damaged and healed, it will prevail, and the advantage of the skilled is wisdom.

10.11 If a serpent bites in vain, there is no advantage to the one who has the tongue.

10.12 The words of the mouth of a wise man are gracious, but the lips of a fool will swallow them up.

10.13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his mouth is wicked debauchery.

10.14 And the fool will multiply words. man knoweth not what shall be, and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

10.15 The labor of fools wears him out, who does not know how to go to the city.

10.16 What land hast thou, whose king is a youth, and whose princes eat in the morning?

10.17 Blessed art thou, O land, whose king is the son of Hur, and whose princes shall eat in time, with strength, and not with double.

10.18 The day of misfortune will come upon the lazy, and through idleness of hands the house will leak.

10.19 To laugh, bread and wine make life joyful, but money answers all things.

10.20 Even in your knowledge, O king, do not curse; nor in your bedchamber, O rich man, do not curse. For a bird of the air will carry the voice, and one who has wings will tell the matter.

11.1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for in many days you will find it.

11.2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for you do not know what evil will be upon the land.

11.3 If the clouds fill the earth with rain, they will spit it out. If a tree falls in the south, or in the north, where the tree falls, there is Jehu.

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

11.5 As you do not know what the way of the Spirit is, as the things in a full stomach, so you do not know the work of Alhym, who does all things.

11.6 In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand. for you know not which shall prosper, this or that, or whether both of them shall be good.

11.7 And the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

11.8 For if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and remember the days of darkness, because they will be many, all that comes of vanity.

11.9 Rejoice in your youth, and let your heart do you good in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes. and know that for all these Alhym will bring you into judgment.

11.10 And remove anger from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh. for childhood and youth are vanity.

12.1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them."

12.2 Until the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain,

12.3 In the day that the keepers of the house shall sweat, and the men of war shall be astonished, and the mills shall cease, because the vision shall be darkened by the locusts.

12.4 And they shut the doors of the market at the sound of the millstones, and rose up at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song bathed.

12.5 They will also see from above, and they will cut down the way, and the almond tree will flourish, and the grasshopper will flourish, and the poor will be cut off, because man has gone to his earthly home, and they will go around in the market of mourning.

12.6 Until the silver cord be loosed, and the golden wheel broken, and the pitcher broken upon the fountain, and the wheel cast into the pit.

12.7 And the dust shall return upon the earth as it was. and the spirit shall return unto Alhym who gave it.

12.8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Ecclesiastes, all is vanity.

12.9 And he added, that he was a wise priest, and taught the people knowledge, and listened, and searched out many proverbs.

12.10 Ecclesiastes 12.10 Seek to find delightful words, and write upright words of truth.

12.11 The words of the wise are like spurs and guards planted in the congregations, giving them one pasture.

12.12 And more than this, my son, be careful not to make many books without end, and to talk much, and you will wear out your flesh.

12.13 The conclusion of the matter is, let us hear. Fear Alhym and keep his commandments, for this is the whole purpose of man.

12.14 For Alhym will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good or evil.