¹² I, the teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ I decided to seek out and study the wisdom of the ages, of all that had been done under the heavens. I soon discovered the harsh realities of the work God has given us that keeps us so busy. ¹⁴ I have witnessed all that is done under the sun, and indeed, all is fleeting, like trying to embrace the wind. ¹⁵ There is an old saying:

¹⁶ I mused over it all and thought to myself, “I have done great things, and I have gained more wisdom than anyone who reigned over Jerusalem before me. I have contemplated great wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ I decided to study wisdom and instead acquainted myself with madness and folly. It, too, seemed like trying to pursue the wind, ¹⁸ for as my wisdom increased, so did my vexation. As my knowledge grew, so did my pain.

2 Teacher: I said to myself, “Let me dabble and test you in pleasure and see if there is any good in that.” But look, that, too, was fleeting. ² Of laughter I said, “Foolishness.” Of pleasure, “And in the end what is accomplished?” ³ So I thought about drinking wine, for it soothes the flesh. But all the while my mind was filled with thoughts of wisdom—about how to rein in foolishness—until I might understand the best way for us to live out our brief lives and number of days under heaven. ⁴ Next, I began some enormous projects, building my own houses and planting my own vineyards. ⁵ I designed impressive gardens and parks and planted them with all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶ I installed pools of water to irrigate the forests of young saplings. ⁷ I acquired male and female servants; I even had servants born into my household. I had herds of cattle, flocks of sheep and goats—more than anyone who had ever lived in Jerusalem before me. ⁸ I amassed a fortune in silver and gold, and I stockpiled the treasures of kings and provinces. I hired men and women to sing and entertain me, and I pampered myself with what every man desires—many women. ⁹ I surrounded myself with all this and became great, far greater than anyone who had ever lived in Jerusalem before me. And still, my wisdom never left my side. ¹⁰ Throughout this experiment, I let myself have anything my eyes desired, and I did not withhold from my mind any pleasure. What was the conclusion? My mind found joy in all the work I did—my work was its own reward! ¹¹ As I continued musing over all I had accomplished and the hard work it took, I concluded that all this, too, was fleeting, like trying to embrace the wind. Is there any real gain by all our hard work under the sun?

¹² I turned my attention to the ways of wisdom and folly and madness. I asked, “What is left for those who come after the king to do? They can only repeat what he has already done.”^{[b] 13} I realized that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. ¹⁴ As the old saying goes:

Yet I knew deep down that the same fate comes to both of them. ¹⁵ I said to myself, “Why do I try to be wise when my fate is the same as that of the fool? This pursuit is fleeting too.” ¹⁶ Neither the wise nor the fool will be remembered for very long once they are gone. The wise dies, and the fool alike. All are forgotten in the future. ¹⁷ So I began to hate life itself because all that is done under the sun is so harsh and difficult. Life—everything about it—is fleeting; it’s like trying to pursue the wind.

¹⁸ So I began to hate all the hard work I had done under the sun because I would eventually have to leave it all to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether my heir will be wise or foolish? Still he will inherit all the things for which I worked so hard here under the sun, the things for which I became wise. This, too, is fleeting like trying to catch hold of a breath. ²⁰ So I turned these thoughts over in my mind and despaired over how hard I worked under the sun. ²¹ Although someone with wisdom, knowledge, and skill works hard, when he departs this life, he will leave all he has accomplished to another who has done nothing to deserve work’s reward. This, too, is fleeting, and it causes great misery. ²² What exactly do people get out of all their work and all the stresses they put themselves through here under the sun? ²³ For every day is filled with pain and every job has its own problems, and there are nights when the mind doesn’t stop and rest. And once again, this is fleeting. ²⁴ There is nothing better than for people to eat and drink and to see the good in their hard work. These beautiful gifts, I realized, too, come from God’s hand. ²⁵ For who can eat and drink and enjoy the good things if not me? ²⁶ To those who seek to please God, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joyfulness; but to those who are wicked, God keeps them busy harvesting and storing up for those in whom He delights. But even this is fleeting; it’s like trying to embrace the wind.

3 Teacher: For everything that happens in life—there is a season, a right time for everything under heaven:

⁹ What good comes to anyone who works so hard, all to gain a few possessions? ¹⁰ I have seen the kinds of tasks God has given each of us to do to keep one busy, ¹¹ and I know God has made everything beautiful for its time. God has also placed in our minds a sense of eternity; we look back on the past and ponder over the future, yet we cannot understand the doings of God. ¹² I know there is nothing better for us than to be joyful and to do good throughout our lives; ¹³ to eat and drink and see the good in all of our hard work is a gift from God. ¹⁴ I know everything God does endures for all time. Nothing can be added to it; nothing can be taken away from it. We humans can only stand in awe of all God has done. ¹⁵ What has been and what is to be—already is. And God holds accountable all the pursuits of humanity.^[c]

Teacher: ¹⁶ Again, I looked at everything that goes on under the sun and realized that in place of justice, wickedness prevails. In place of righteousness, wrongdoing succeeds. ¹⁷ I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a right time for every pursuit and for every action.”^{[d] 18} I thought about how people act: “God often puts them to the test to show them how much they are like the animals.” ¹⁹ The fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so does the other, for we have the same breath within us. In the end, we have no advantage over the animals. For as I have said, it’s all fleeting. ²⁰ Humans and animals alike go to one place; all are formed from dust, and all return to the dust once more. ²¹ Who really knows whether the spirits of human beings go up and the spirits of animals go down into the earth? ²² So I realized there is nothing better for us than to find joy in the work we do, for work is its own reward. For who will bring us back to see what will be after we are gone?

4 Teacher: Then I looked again and saw all the oppression that happens under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and no one offered to help and comfort them. The oppressors exercise all the power, while the powerless have no one to help and comfort them. ² It struck me that the dead are actually better off than the living who must go on living; ³ and, even better, are those who were never born in the first place. At least they have never had to witness all of the injustices that take place under the sun.

Teacher: ⁴ Then I saw yet another thing: envy fuels achievement. All the work and skills people develop come from their desire to be better than their neighbors. Even this is fleeting, like trying to embrace the wind.

⁷ Again I observed another example of how fleeting life is under the sun: ⁸ a person who is all alone—with no child, no sibling—yet he works hard his entire life. Still he is never satisfied with the wealth he gains. Does he stop to ask, “Why am I working so hard?” or “Why am I depriving myself of life’s simple pleasures?” This, too, is fleeting, like trying to catch hold of a breath; it’s a miserable situation.

⁹ Two are better than one because a good return comes when two work together. ¹⁰ If one of them falls, the other can help him up. But who will help the pitiful person who falls down alone? ¹¹ In the same way, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm. But how will the one who sleeps alone stay warm against the night? ¹² And if one person is vulnerable to attack, two can drive the attacker away. As the saying goes, “A rope made of three strands is not quickly broken.”

¹³ A poor, wise youth is better off than an old, foolish king who no longer accepts advice. ¹⁴ For example, once a young man marched out of prison to become king; it had not mattered how poor he once had been in his kingdom. ¹⁵ I saw all those who live out their lives under the sun flock to the side of a second youth who took the king’s place. ¹⁶ There seemed to be no limit to all the people who were under his authority. Yet those who will come later will not be happy with him and will refuse to follow him. Even this, you see, is fleeting—power and influence do not last—like trying to pursue the wind.^[e]

5 Teacher: Watch your step when you enter the house of God. Be ready to listen quietly rather than rushing in to offer up a sacrifice to foolish people, for they have no idea that what they do is evil.

² Do not be too hasty to speak your mind before God or too quick to make promises you won’t keep, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, watch your tongue; let your words be few. ³ For just as busyness breeds restless dreams, so wordiness reveals the voice of a fool.

⁴ If you make a promise to God, do not be slow to keep it; for He takes no pleasure in fools. So do what you have promised. ⁵ In fact, it would be better not to make a vow in the first place than to make it and not fulfill it. ⁶ Do not let your mouth lead you to sin, and do not claim before the temple messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry at the sound of your voice and destroy everything you’ve worked hard to achieve? ⁷ Daydreaming and excessive talking are pointless and fleeting things to do, like trying to catch hold of a breath. What good comes from them? It is better to quietly reverence God.

⁸ If you see the poor oppressed, justice denied, and righteousness rejected in a particular place, then do not be surprised at this; for those in power are watched over by those higher up, and they in turn by some even higher. ⁹ Still, it is better for the land in every way to have a king who cultivates the fields.^[f]

This, too, is fleeting. ¹¹ The more goods there are, the more people there are to consume them. How does any of this really benefit the owners except they can gaze proudly on their possessions? ¹² Sweet sleep comes to those who work hard, regardless of how much or how little they’ve eaten. But the abundance of the rich keeps them awake at night.

Teacher: ¹³ I have witnessed a grave evil pervading our world, one that has been with us since the first sunrise: harm comes to all who hoard their riches. ¹⁴ Such riches can easily vanish through some misfortune, so that the rich have nothing left to pass along to their children. ¹⁵ We all came naked from our mother’s womb, and we will leave this world as we came, taking nothing of the wealth for which we have toiled. ¹⁶ Here, too, is another grave evil: all of us, no matter who we are, will depart this world exactly the same way as we came into it. So what good does it do to continue to toil after the wind? ¹⁷ So all our days we eat in darkness, with mounting frustration, suffering, and anger.

¹⁸ Then it dawned on me that this is good and proper: to eat and drink and find the good in all the toil that we undertake under the sun during the few days God has given, for this is our lot in life. ¹⁹ Also, God gives wealth, possessions, and power to enjoy those things, and He allows them to accept their lot in life and to enjoy hard work. This is God’s gift. ²⁰ For people like this have no time to despair over life because God keeps them so busy with a deep-seated joy.

12 Teacher: And so we come to the end of this musing over life. My advice to you is to remember your Creator, God, while you are young: before life gets hard and the injustice of old age comes upon you—before the years arrive when pleasure feels far out of reach— ² before the sun and light and the moon and stars fade to darkness and before cloud-covered skies return after the rain. ³ Remember Him before the arms and legs of the keeper of the house begin to tremble—before the strong grow uneasy and bent over with age—before toothless gums aren’t able to chew food and eyes grow dim. ⁴ Remember Him before the doors are shut in the streets and hearing fails and everyday sounds fade away—before the slightest sound of a bird’s chirp awakens the sleeping but the song itself has fallen silent. ⁵ People will be afraid of falling from heights and terrifying obstacles in the streets. Realize that hair turns white like the blossoms on the almond tree, one becomes slow and large like a gluttonous grasshopper, and even caper berries no longer stimulate desire. In the end, all must go to our eternal home while there are mourners in the streets. ^6-7 So before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is shattered: before the earthen jar is smashed at the spring and the wheel at the well is broken—before the dust returns to the earth that gave it and the spirit-breath returns to God who breathed it, let us remember our Creator. ⁸ Life is fleeting; it just slips through your fingers. All vanishes like mist.