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All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
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I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
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I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
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For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!
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All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
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A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
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I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.
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I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.
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So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
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But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
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Riches Are Meaningless
If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still.
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I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
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All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.
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This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.
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They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
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I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind:
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Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
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For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
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Wisdom
A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
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Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.
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Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.
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In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
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Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
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So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
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When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—
