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- 1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in
- Jerusalem.
- 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of
- vanities; all [is] vanity.
- 1:3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh
- under the sun?
- 1:4 [One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation
- cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
- 1:5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth
- to his place where he arose.
- 1:6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto
- the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind
- returneth again according to his circuits.
- 1:7 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.
- 1:8 All things [are] full of labour; man cannot utter [it]:
- the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with
- hearing.
- 1:9 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.
- 1:10 Is there [any] thing whereof it may be said, See, this
- [is] new? it hath been already of old time, which was before
- us.
- 1:11 [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.
- 1:12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
- 1:13 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.
- 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 [That which is] crooked cannot be made straight: and
- that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
- 1:16 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.
- 1:17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness
- and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
- 1:18 For in much wisdom [is] much grief: and he that
- increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
-
- 2:1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with
- mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is]
- vanity.
- 2:2 I said of laughter, [It is] mad: and of mirth, What doeth
- it?
- 2:3 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.
- 2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me
- vineyards:
- 2:5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in
- them of all [kind of] fruits:
- 2:6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood
- that bringeth forth trees:
- 2:7 I got [me] servants and maidens, and had servants born in
- my house; also I had great possessions of great and small
- cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
- 2:8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar
- treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers
- and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, [as]
- musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
- 2:9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were
- before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
- 2:10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I
- withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in
- all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
- 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had
- wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and,
- behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there
- was] no profit under the sun.
- 2:12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and
- folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king?
- [even] that which hath been already done.
- 2:13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light
- excelleth darkness.
- 2:14 The wise man's eyes [are] in his head; but the fool
- walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event
- happeneth to them all.
- 2:15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so
- it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I
- said in my heart, that this also [is] vanity.
- 2:16 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.
- 2:17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought
- under the sun [is] grievous unto me: for all [is] vanity and
- vexation of spirit.
- 2:18 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.
- 2:19 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 showed myself wise under the sun.
- This [is] also vanity.
- 2:20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of
- all the labour which I took under the sun.
- 2:21 For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in
- knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured
- therein shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is]
- vanity and a great evil.
- 2:22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation
- of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
- 2:23 For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail grief;
- yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also
- vanity.
- 2:24 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he
- should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy
- good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the
- hand of God.
- 2:25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten [hereunto], more
- than I?
- 2:26 For [God] giveth to a man that [is] good in his sight
- wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth
- travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to [him
- that is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of
- spirit.
-
- 3:1 To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every
- purpose under the heaven:
- 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,
- and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;
- 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break 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 cast away stones, and a time to gather stones
- together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
- embracing;
- 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a
- time to cast away;
- 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep
- silence, and a time to speak;
- 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a
- time of peace.
- 3:9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he
- laboureth?
- 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the
- sons of men to be exercised in it.
- 3:11 He hath made every [thing] beautiful in his time: also
- he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find
- out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
- 3:12 I know that [there is] no good in them, but for [a man]
- to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
- 3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy
- the good of all his labour, it [is] the gift of God.
- 3:14 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.
- 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be
- hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
- 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment,
- [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place of righteousness,
- [that] iniquity [was] there.
- 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and
- the wicked: for [there is] a time there for every purpose and
- for every work.
- 3:18 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.
- 3:19 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.
- 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn
- to dust again.
- 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the
- spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
- 3:22 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?
-
- 4:1 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.
- 4:2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more
- than the living which are yet alive.
- 4:3 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.
- 4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work,
- that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This [is] also
- vanity and vexation of spirit.
- 4:5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own
- flesh.
- 4:6 Better [is] an handful [with] quietness, than both the
- hands full [with] travail and vexation of spirit.
- 4:7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
- 4:8 There is one [alone], and [there is] not a second; yea,
- he hath neither child nor brother: yet [is there] no end of all
- his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither
- [saith he], For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good?
- This [is] also vanity, yea, it [is] a sore travail.
- 4:9 Two [are] better than one; because they have a good
- reward for their labour.
- 4:10 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.
- 4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how
- can one be warm [alone]?
- 4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him;
- and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
- 4:13 Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and
- foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
- 4:14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he
- that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor.
- 4:15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun,
- with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
- 4:16 [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.
-
- 5:1 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.
- 5:2 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.
- 5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and
- a fool's voice [is known] by multitude of words.
- 5:4 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.
- 5:5 Better [is it] that thou shouldest not vow, than that
- thou shouldest vow and not pay.
- 5:6 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?
- 5:7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words [there are]
- also [divers] vanities: but fear thou God.
- 5:8 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.
- 5:9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king
- [himself] is served by the field.
- 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with
- silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this [is]
- also vanity.
- 5:11 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?
- 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eat
- little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer
- him to sleep.
- 5:13 There is a sore evil [which] I have seen under the sun,
- [namely], riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
- 5:14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he
- begetteth a son, and [there is] nothing in his hand.
- 5:15 As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he
- return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour,
- which he may carry away in his hand.
- 5:16 And this also [is] a sore evil, [that] in all points as
- he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath
- laboured for the wind?
- 5:17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and [he hath]
- much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
- 5:18 Behold [that] which I have seen: [it is] good and comely
- [for one] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his
- labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life,
- which God giveth him: for it [is] his portion.
- 5:19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth,
- and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his
- portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this [is] the gift of
- God.
- 5:20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life;
- because God answereth [him] in the joy of his heart.
-
- 6:1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it
- [is] common among men:
- 6:2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour,
- so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he
- desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a
- stranger eateth it: this [is] vanity, and it [is] an evil
- disease.
- 6:3 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.
- 6:4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness,
- and his name shall be covered with darkness.
- 6:5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known [any thing]:
- this hath more rest than the other.
- 6:6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice [told], yet
- hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
- 6:7 All the labour of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the
- appetite is not filled.
- 6:8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the
- poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
- 6:9 Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the wandering of
- the desire: this [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.
- 6:10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known
- that it [is] man: neither may he contend with him that is
- mightier than he.
- 6:11 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what
- [is] man the better?
- 6:12 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?
-
- 7:1 A good name [is] better than precious ointment; 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 men; and
- the living will lay [it] to his heart.
- 7:3 Sorrow [is] better than laughter: for by the sadness of
- the countenance 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 the wise, than for a
- man to hear the song of fools.
- 7:6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so [is] the
- laughter of the fool: this also [is] vanity.
- 7:7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift
- destroyeth the heart.
- 7:8 Better [is] the end of a thing than the beginning
- thereof: [and] the patient in spirit [is] better than the proud
- in spirit.
- 7:9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth
- in the bosom of fools.
- 7:10 Say not thou, What is [the cause] that the former days
- were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely
- concerning this.
- 7:11 Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance: and [by it there
- is] profit to them that see the sun.
- 7:12 For wisdom [is] a defence, [and] money [is] a defence:
- but the excellency of knowledge [is, that] wisdom giveth life
- to them that have it.
- 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make [that]
- straight, which he hath made crooked?
- 7:14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of
- adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the
- other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.
- 7:15 All [things] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there
- is a just [man] that perisheth in his righteousness, and there
- is a wicked [man] that prolongeth [his life] in his wickedness.
- 7:16 Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over
- wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
- 7:17 Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why
- shouldest thou die before thy time?
- 7:18 [It is] good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea,
- also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God
- shall come forth of them all.
- 7:19 Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty [men]
- which are in the city.
- 7:20 For [there is] not a just man upon earth, that doeth
- good, and sinneth not.
- 7:21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest
- thou hear thy servant curse thee:
- 7:22 For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou
- thyself likewise hast cursed others.
- 7:23 All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be
- wise; but it [was] far from me.
- 7:24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find
- it out?
- 7:25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek
- out wisdom, and the reason [of things], and to know the
- wickedness of folly, even of foolishness [and] madness:
- 7:26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart
- [is] snares and nets, [and] her hands [as] bands: whoso
- pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be
- taken by her.
- 7:27 Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher,
- [counting] one by one, to find out the account:
- 7:28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among
- a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not
- found.
- 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man
- upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
-
- 8:1 Who [is] as the wise [man]? and who knoweth the
- interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to
- shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
- 8:2 I [counsel thee] to keep the king's commandment, and
- [that] in regard of the oath of God.
- 8:3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil
- thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
- 8:4 Where the word of a king [is, there is] power: and who
- may say unto him, What doest thou?
- 8:5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing:
- and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
- 8:6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment,
- therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him.
- 8:7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell
- him when it shall be?
- 8:8 [There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to
- retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death:
- and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall
- wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
- 8:9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every
- work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time wherein one
- man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
- 8:10 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.
- 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed
- speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set
- in them to do evil.
- 8:12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his [days]
- be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them
- that fear God, which fear before him:
- 8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall
- he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he
- feareth not before God.
- 8:14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that
- there be just [men], unto whom it happeneth according to the
- work of the wicked; again, there be wicked [men], to whom it
- happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that
- this also [is] vanity.
- 8:15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better
- thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be
- merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of
- his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
- 8:16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the
- business that is done upon the earth: (for also [there is that]
- neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
- 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot
- find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a
- man labour to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; yea
- farther; though a wise [man] think to know [it], yet shall he
- not be able to find [it].
-
- 9:1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all
- this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, [are]
- in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred [by]
- all [that is] before them.
- 9:2 All [things come] alike to all: [there is] one event to
- the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean,
- and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that
- sacrificeth not: as [is] the good, so [is] the sinner; [and] he
- that sweareth, as [he] that feareth an oath.
- 9:3 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.
- 9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is
- hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
- 9:5 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.
- 9:6 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.
- 9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine
- with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
- 9:8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack
- no ointment.
- 9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days
- of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the
- sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that [is] thy portion in
- [this] life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
- 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy
- might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor
- wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
- 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is]
- not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet
- bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor
- yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to
- them all.
- 9:12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that
- are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in
- the snare; so [are] the sons of men snared in an evil time,
- when it falleth suddenly upon them.
- 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it
- [seemed] great unto me:
- 9:14 [There was] a little city, and few men within it; and
- there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built
- great bulwarks against it:
- 9:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his
- wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor
- man.
- 9:16 Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength:
- nevertheless the poor man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words
- are not heard.
- 9:17 The words of wise [men are] heard in quiet more than the
- cry of him that ruleth among fools.
- 9:18 Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war: but one sinner
- destroyeth much good.
-
- 10:1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send
- forth a stinking savour: [so doth] a little folly him that is
- in reputation for wisdom [and] honour.
- 10:2 A wise man's heart [is] at his right hand; but a fool's
- heart at his left.
- 10:3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his
- wisdom faileth [him], and he saith to every one [that] he [is]
- a fool.
- 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave
- not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.
- 10:5 There is an evil [which] I have seen under the sun, as
- an error [which] proceedeth from the ruler:
- 10:6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low
- place.
- 10:7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as
- servants upon the earth.
- 10:8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso
- breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
- 10:9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; [and] he
- that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.
- 10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then
- must he put to more strength: but wisdom [is] profitable to
- direct.
- 10:11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a
- babbler is no better.
- 10:12 The words of a wise man's mouth [are] gracious; but the
- lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
- 10:13 The beginning of the words of his mouth [is]
- foolishness: and the end of his talk [is] mischievous madness.
- 10:14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what
- shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
- 10:15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them,
- because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
- 10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a child, and
- thy princes eat in the morning!
- 10:17 Blessed [art] thou, O land, when thy king [is] the son
- of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and
- not for drunkenness!
- 10:18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through
- idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
- 10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry:
- but money answereth all [things].
- 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse
- not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall
- carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the
- matter.
-
- 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it
- after many days.
- 11:2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou
- knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
- 11:3 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.
- 11:4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that
- regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
- 11:5 As thou knowest not what [is] the way of the spirit,
- [nor] how the bones [do grow] in the womb of her that is with
- child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh
- all.
- 11:6 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.
- 11:7 Truly the light [is] sweet, and a pleasant [thing it is]
- for the eyes to behold the sun:
- 11:8 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.
- 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart
- cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of
- thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou,
- that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment.
- 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away
- evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth [are] vanity.
-
- 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while
- the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou
- shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
- 12:2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars,
- be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
- 12:3 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,
- 12:4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the
- sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice
- of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought
- low;
- 12:5 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:
- 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be
- broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel
- broken at the cistern.
- 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and
- the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
- 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all [is] vanity.
- 12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still
- taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought
- out, [and] set in order many proverbs.
- 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and
- [that which was] written [was] upright, [even] words of truth.
- 12:11 The words of the wise [are] as goads, and as nails
- fastened [by] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from
- one shepherd.
- 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making
- many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness
- of the flesh.
- 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear
- God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty]
- of man.
- 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with
- every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be]
- evil.