And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.

For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will soon be forgotten. And how the wise and the fool alike die!

So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

Because all his days his activity is painful and irritating; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is futility.

A Time for Everything

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven—

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Mankind

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will fear Him.

I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.

I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a person and his neighbor. This too is futility and striving after wind.

for he has come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.

There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them. Even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him; for this too is futility and striving after wind.

Furthermore, as for every person to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also given him the opportunity to enjoy them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,

It has not even seen the sun nor does it know it; yet it is better off than that man.

Even if the man lives a thousand years twice, but does not see good things—do not all go to one and the same place?”

It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every person, And the living takes it to heart.

I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

Indeed, there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin.

for you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a person’s trouble is heavy upon him.

All this I have seen, and have applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun at a time when one person has exercised authority over another person to his detriment.

When I devoted my mind to know wisdom and to see the business which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night),

and I saw every work of God, I concluded that one cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though a person laboriously seeks, he will not discover; and even if the wise person claims to know, he cannot discover.

People Are in the Hand of God

For I have taken all this to my heart, even to examine it all, that righteous people, wise people, and their deeds are in the hand of God. People do not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits them.