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“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
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What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
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All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.
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All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
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And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.
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I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
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I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.”
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I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
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I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
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I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
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I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.
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So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
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Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor.
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Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
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The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.
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For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!
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Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
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Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
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And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
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Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
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For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
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For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
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and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
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For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.
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All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.