\v 12 I am the Teacher, and I have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
\v 13 I applied my mind to study and to search out by wisdom everything that is done under heaven. That search is a burdensome task that God has given to the children of mankind to be busy with.
\v 16 I have spoken to my heart saying, “Look, I have acquired greater wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My mind has seen great wisdom and knowledge.”
\v 3 I explored in my heart how to gratify my desires with wine. I let my mind guide me with wisdom although I was still holding on to folly. I wanted to find out what is good for people to do under heaven during the days of their lives.
\s5
\v 4 I accomplished great things. I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
\v 5 I built for myself gardens and parks; I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
\v 6 I created pools of water to water a forest where trees were grown.
\s5
\v 7 I purchased male slaves and female slaves; I had slaves born in my palace. I also had large herds and flocks of livestock, much more than any king who ruled before me in Jerusalem.
\v 8 I also accumulated for myself silver and gold, the treasures of kings and provinces. I got male and female singers for myself—the delights of the children of humanity—and many concubines.
\f + \ft Modern versions interpret the last part of this verse in different ways: \fqa everything that pleases people \fqa* , \fqa concubines and everything that pleases men \fqa* , etc. \f*
\s5
\v 9 So I became greater and wealthier than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained with me.
\q1
\v 10 Whatever my eyes desired,
\q2 I did not withhold from them.
\q1 I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
\q2 because my heart rejoiced in all my labor
\q2 and pleasure was my reward for all my work.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 Then I looked on all the deeds that my hands had accomplished,
\q2 and on the work that I had done,
\q1 but again, everything was vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
\q2 There was no profit under the sun in it.
\q1
\v 12 Then I turned to consider wisdom,
\q2 and also madness and folly.
\q1 For what can the next king do who comes after the king,
\q2 which has not already been done?
\s5
\q1
\v 13 Then I began to understand
\q2 that wisdom has advantages over folly,
\q2 just as light is better than darkness.
\q1
\v 14 The wise man uses his eyes in his head to see where he is going,
\v 16 For the wise man, like the fool, is not remembered for very long.
\q2 In the days to come everything will have been long forgotten.
\q1 The wise man dies just like the fool dies.
\s5
\v 17 So I detested life because all the work done under the sun was evil to me. This was because everything is vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
\v 18 I hated all my accomplishments for which I had worked under the sun because I must leave them behind to the man who comes after me.
\s5
\v 19 For who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over everything under the sun that my work and wisdom have built. This also is vapor.
\v 20 Therefore my heart began to despair over all the work under the sun that I did.
\s5
\v 21 For there might be someone who works with wisdom, with knowledge, and skill, but he will leave everything he has to a man who has not made any of it. This also is vapor and a great tragedy.
\v 22 For what profit does the person gain who works so hard and tries in his heart to complete his labors under the sun?
\v 23 Every day his work is painful and stressful, so at night his soul does not find rest. This also is vapor.
\v 24 There is nothing better for anyone than to simply eat and drink and be satisfied with what is good in his work. I saw that this truth comes from God’s hand.
\v 25 For who can eat or who can have any kind of pleasure apart from God?
\s5
\v 26 For to anyone who pleases him, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. However, to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and storing up so that he may give it away to someone who pleases God. This also amounts to vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
\s5
\c 3
\p
\v 1 For everything there is an appointed time, and a season for every purpose under heaven.
\q1
\v 2 There is a time to be born and a time to die,
\q1 a time to plant and a time to pull up plants,
\q1
\v 3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
\q1 a time to tear down and a time to build up.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 There is a time to weep and a time to laugh,
\q1 a time to mourn and a time to dance,
\q1
\v 5 a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones,
\q1 a time to embrace other people, and a time to refrain from embracing.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 There is a time to look for things and a time to stop looking,
\q1 a time to keep things and a time to throw away things,
\q1
\v 7 a time to tear clothing and a time to repair clothing,
\q1 a time to keep silent and a time to speak.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 There is a time to love and a time to hate,
\q1 a time for war and a time for peace.
\v 9 What profit does the worker gain in his labor?
\v 10 I have seen the work that God has given to human beings to complete.
\s5
\v 11 God has made everything suitable for its own time. He has also placed eternity in their hearts. But mankind cannot understand the deeds that God has done, from their beginning all the way to their end.
\s5
\v 12 I know that there is nothing better for anyone than to rejoice and to do good so long as he lives—
\v 13 and that everyone should eat and drink, and should understand how to enjoy the good that comes from all his work. This is a gift from God.
\s5
\v 14 I know that whatever God does lasts forever. Nothing can be added to it or taken away, because it is God who has done it so that people will approach him with honor.
\q1
\v 15 Whatever exists has already existed;
\q2 whatever will exist has already existed.
\q1 God makes human beings seek hidden things.
\f + \ft Instead of \fqa God makes human beings seek hidden things \fqa* , other modern versions interpret this line in different ways. \f*
\s5
\v 16 I have seen the wickedness that is under the sun, where there should be justice, and in place of righteousness, wickedness was there.
\v 19 For the fate of the children of mankind and the fate of animals is the same fate for them. The death of one is like the death of the other. The breath is the same for all of them. There is no advantage for mankind over the animals. For is not everything just a breath?
\v 20 Everything is going to the same place. Everything comes from the dust, and everything returns to the dust.
\s5
\v 21 Who knows whether the spirit of mankind goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward into the earth?
\f + \ft Some modern versions have \fqa Who knows the spirit of mankind, which goes upward, and the spirit of animals, which goes downward into the earth? \fqa* \f*
\v 22 So again I realized that there is nothing better for anyone than to take pleasure in his work, for that is his assignment. Who can bring him back to see what happens after him?
\s5
\c 4
\p
\v 1 Once again I thought about all the oppression that is done under the sun.
\v 4 Then I saw that every act of labor and every skillful work became the envy of one’s neighbor. This also is vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
\v 16 There is no end to all the people who want to obey the new king, but later many of them will no longer praise him. Surely this situation is vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
\v 1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not understand that they are doing what is wrong.
\s5
\q1
\v 2 Do not be too quick to speak with your mouth,
\q2 and do not let your heart be too quick to bring any matter up before God.
\q1 God is in heaven, but you are on earth,
\q2 so let your words be few.
\q1
\v 3 If you have too many things to do and worry about, you will probably have bad dreams.
\q2 The more words you speak, the more foolish things you will probably say.
\s5
\v 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to do it, for God has no pleasure in fools. Do what you vow you will do.
\v 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one that you do not carry out.
\v 6 Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin. Do not say to the priest’s messenger, “That vow was a mistake.” Why make God angry by vowing falsely, provoking God to destroy the work of your hands?
\v 7 For in many dreams, as in many words, there is meaningless vapor. So fear God.
\s5
\v 8 When you see the poor being oppressed and robbed of just and right treatment in your province, do not be astonished as if no one knows, because there are people in power who watch those under them, and there are even higher ones over them.
\v 9 In addition, the produce of the land is for everyone, and the king himself takes produce from the fields.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 Anyone who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver,
\q2 and anyone who loves wealth always wants more.
\q1 This, too, is vapor.
\q1
\v 11 As prosperity increases, so also do the people who consume it.
\q1 What advantage in wealth is there to the owner
\q2 except to watch it with his eyes?
\s5
\q1
\v 12 The sleep of a working man is sweet,
\q2 whether he eats little or a lot,
\q1 but the wealth of a rich person does not allow him to sleep well.
\s5
\v 13 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun:
\q1 riches hoarded by the owner, resulting in his own misery.
\q1
\v 14 When the rich man loses his wealth through bad luck,
\q2 his own son, one whom he has fathered, is left with nothing in his hands.
\v 18 Look, what I have seen to be good and suitable is to eat and drink and to enjoy the gain from all our work, as we labor under the sun during the days of this life that God has given us. For this is man’s assignment.
\v 1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavy on men.
\v 2 God might give riches, wealth, and honor to a man so that he lacks nothing that he desires for himself, but then God gives him no ability to enjoy it. Instead, someone else uses his things. This is vapor, an evil affliction.
\v 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but if his heart is not satisfied with good and he is not buried, then I say that a baby that is born dead is better off than he is.
\v 8 Indeed, what advantage has the wise person over the fool?
\q2 What advantage does the poor man have
\q3 even if he knows how to act in front of other people?
\s5
\q1
\v 9 It is better to be satisfied with what the eyes see
\q2 than to desire what a wandering appetite craves,
\q1 which is also vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
\q1
\v 10 Whatever has existed has already been given its name, and what mankind is like has already been known. So it has become useless to dispute with the one who is the mighty judge of all.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 The more words that are spoken, the more futility increases,
\q2 so what advantage is that to a man?
\v 12 For who knows what is good for man in his life during his futile, numbered days through which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come under the sun after he passes?
\v 28 This is what I am still looking for, but I have not found it. I did find one righteous man among a thousand, but a woman among all those I did not find.
\v 9 I have realized all this; I have applied my heart to every kind of work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person oppresses another person to that person’s hurt.
\f + \ft Some modern versions have \fqa to his own hurt \fqa* . The Hebrew passage can be interpreted either way. \f*
\s5
\v 10 So I saw the wicked buried publicly. They were taken from the holy area and buried and were praised by people in the city where they had done their wicked deeds. This also is uselessness.
\f + \ft Some modern versions have other interpretations of this difficult verse: \fqa I saw wicked people come and go into the holy place. They proudly spoke in the city about the things they had done. This also is uselessness \fqa* . Other versions have \fqa I saw wicked people come and go into the holy place. They were praised in the city for the things they had done. This also is uselessness \fqa* . \f*
\v 11 When a sentence against an evil crime is not executed quickly, it entices the hearts of human beings to do evil.
\s5
\v 12 Even though a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives a long time, yet I know that it will be better for those who respect God, for those who stand before him and show him respect.
\v 13 But it will not go well for a wicked man; his life will not be prolonged. His days are like a fleeting shadow because he does not honor God.
\s5
\v 14 There is another useless vapor—something else that is done on the earth. Things happen to righteous people as they happen to wicked people, and things happen to wicked people as they happen to righteous people. I say that this also is useless vapor.
\v 15 So I recommend happiness, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink and to be happy. It is happiness that will accompany him in his labor for all the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
\s5
\v 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to understand the work that is done on the earth, work often done without sleep for the eyes at night or in the day,
\v 17 then I considered all of God’s deeds, and that man cannot understand the work that is done under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to find the answers, he will not find them. Even though a wise man might believe he knows, he really does not.
\v 1 For I thought about all this in my mind to understand about the righteous and wise people and their deeds. They are all in God’s hands. No one knows whether love or hate will come to someone.
\f + \ft Some modern versions copy ancient versions which have \fqa the good and the bad \fqa* . In this way, they make the phrase complete. Translators may decide to imitate them. \f*
\v 3 There is an evil fate for everything that is done under the sun, the same event happens to them all. The hearts of human beings are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live. So after that they go to the dead.
\v 4 For anyone who is united to all the living, there is hope, just as a living dog is better than a dead lion. \f + \ft Some modern versions have \fqa For what is preferable? For all the living, this is sure: A living dog is better than a dead lion \fqa* . \f*
\v 7 Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of celebrating good works.
\v 8 Let your clothes be always white and your head anointed with oil.
\s5
\v 9 Live happily with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of uselessness, the days that God has given you under the sun during your days of uselessness. That is your reward in life for your work under the sun.
\v 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, work at it with your strength, because there is no work or explanation or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.
\v 9 The Teacher was wise and he taught the people knowledge. He studied and contemplated and set in order many proverbs.
\s5
\v 10 The Teacher sought to write using vivid, upright words of truth.
\v 11 The words of wise people are like goads. Like nails driven deeply are the words of the masters in collections of their proverbs, which are taught by one shepherd.
\s5
\v 12 My son, be aware of something more: the making of many books, which has no end and much study brings weariness to the body.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 The end of the matter
\q2 after everything has been heard,
\q1 is that you must fear God and keep his commandments,
\q2 for this is the whole duty of mankind.
\q1
\v 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
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