² “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”^(C)

³ What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?^(D)
4 Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.^(E)
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.^(F)
6 The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
⁷ All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.^(G)
8 All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,^(H)
    nor the ear its fill of hearing.
⁹ What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;^(I)
    there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
¹¹ No one remembers the former generations,^(J)
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.^(K)

¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be straightened;^(Q)
    what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁸ For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;^(U)
    the more knowledge, the more grief.^(V)

¹⁰ I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
    I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
    and this was the reward for all my toil.
¹¹ Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
    and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;^(AI)
    nothing was gained under the sun.^(AJ)

“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
    What then do I gain by being wise?”^(AP)
I said to myself,
    “This too is meaningless.”
¹⁶ For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;^(AQ)
    the days have already come when both have been forgotten.^(AR)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!^(AS)

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,^(BH)
3     a time to kill^(BI) and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent^(BJ) and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

¹⁵ Whatever is has already been,^(BT)
    and what will be has been before;^(BU)
    and God will call the past to account.^[d]

In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
    in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

“God will bring into judgment^(BV)
    both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
    a time to judge every deed.”^(BW)

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly^(A) outweighs wisdom and honor.
² The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
³ Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone^(B) how stupid they are.
⁴ If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;^(C)
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.^(D)

⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
    the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶ Fools are put in many high positions,^(E)
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.^(F)

⁸ Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;^(G)
    whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.^(H)
9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
    whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.^(I)

¹⁰ If the ax is dull
    and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
    but skill will bring success.

¹¹ If a snake bites before it is charmed,
    the charmer receives no fee.^(J)

¹² Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,^(K)
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.^(L)
13 At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
¹⁴     and fools multiply words.^(M)

No one knows what is coming—
    who can tell someone else what will happen after them?^(N)

¹⁵ The toil of fools wearies them;
    they do not know the way to town.

¹⁶ Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[a](O)
    and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷ Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
    and whose princes eat at a proper time—
    for strength and not for drunkenness.^(P)

¹⁸ Through laziness, the rafters sag;
    because of idle hands, the house leaks.^(Q)

¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter,
    wine^(R) makes life merry,
    and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰ Do not revile the king^(S) even in your thoughts,
    or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
    and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

³ If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind,^(V)
    or how the body is formed^[b] in a mother’s womb,^(W)
so you cannot understand the work of God,
    the Maker of all things.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,^(X)
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.

⁹ You who are young, be happy while you are young,
    and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart
    and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things
    God will bring you into judgment.^(AA)
10 So then, banish anxiety^(AB) from your heart
    and cast off the troubles of your body,
    for youth and vigor are meaningless.^(AC)

12 Remember^(AD) your Creator
    in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble^(AE) come
    and the years approach when you will say,
    “I find no pleasure in them”—
² before the sun and the light
    and the moon and the stars grow dark,
    and the clouds return after the rain;
³ when the keepers of the house tremble,
    and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
    and those looking through the windows grow dim;
⁴ when the doors to the street are closed
    and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
    but all their songs grow faint;^(AF)
5 when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home^(AG)
    and mourners^(AH) go about the streets.

⁶ Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
    and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
    and the wheel broken at the well,
⁷ and the dust returns^(AI) to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God^(AJ) who gave it.^(AK)

⁸ “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.^[c](AL)
    “Everything is meaningless!^(AM)”

¹³ Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God^(AS) and keep his commandments,^(AT)
    for this is the duty of all mankind.^(AU)
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,^(AV)
    including every hidden thing,^(AW)
    whether it is good or evil.