⁴ Whoever is among the living can be certain about this. A living dog is definitely better off than a dead lion, ⁵ because the living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing at all. There is no more reward for them; even the memory of them is lost. ⁶ Their love and their hate, as well as their zeal, are already long gone. They will never again have a stake in all that happens under the sun.

⁷ Go, eat your food joyfully and drink your wine happily because God has already accepted what you do. ⁸ Let your garments always be white; don’t run short of oil for your head. ⁹ Enjoy life with your dearly loved spouse all the days of your pointless life that God^[a] gives you under the sun—all the days of your pointless life!^[b]—because that’s your part to play^[c] in this life and in your hard work under the sun. ¹⁰ Whatever you are capable of doing, do with all your might because there’s no work, thought, knowledge, or wisdom in the grave,^[d] which is where you are headed.