⁴ [There is no exemption,] but whoever is joined with all the living, has hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they no longer have a reward [here], for the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ Indeed their love, their hatred and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share [in this age] in anything that is done under the sun.

⁷ Go your way, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart [if you are righteous, wise, and in the hands of God]; for God has already approved and accepted your works. ⁸ Let your clothes always be white [with purity], and do not let the oil [of gladness] be lacking on your head. ⁹ Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given you under the sun—all the days of vanity and futility. For this is your reward in life and in your work in which you have labored under the sun.

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) where you are going.