⁴ For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten. ⁶ Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither do they any longer have a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.

⁷ Go your way—eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. ⁸ Let your garments be always white, and don’t let your head lack oil. ⁹ Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity, for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun. ¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol,^[a] where you are going.