I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is striving after wind.

Because in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to both of them.

And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is futility.

When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil.

For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is futility and striving after wind.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;

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.

Who knows that the spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth?

A poor yet wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction—

Your Attitude toward God

Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and approach to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know that they are doing evil.

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

For what advantage does the wise person have over the fool? What does the poor person have, knowing how to walk before the living?

Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he cannot dispute with the one who is mightier than he is.

For who knows what is good for a person during his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life? He will spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a person what will happen after him under the sun?

For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps its possessors alive.

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

I directed my mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness and the foolishness of insanity.

Obey Rulers

Who is like the wise person and who knows the meaning of a matter? A person’s wisdom illuminates his face and makes his stern face brighten up.

One who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.

If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will go well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.

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.