Beginning
Empty Vows, Empty Words
5 Watch your step when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen, rather than to give the kind of sacrifice fools give, for they do not know that they are doing wrong.[a] 2 Do not be hasty with your mouth, and in your heart do not be in a hurry to bring a matter before God, because God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 As too much busyness leads to dreams, too many words lead to foolish talk.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for he takes no delight in fools. Fulfill whatever you have vowed. 5 Better that you do not vow, than that you do make a vow and do not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say to the temple official that the vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry because of what you say and ruin the work your hands have done?
7 A lot of dreaming produces a lot of vapor. So does a lot of words.[b] Instead, fear God.
Life Is Futile
8 If you see the poor being oppressed, and you see the province being robbed of justice and fairness, do not be shocked about the situation, because one high official is watched by a higher one, and higher ones are over them! 9 All officials take their cut of the profit from the land; even the king benefits from the fields.[c]
10 Anyone who loves money is never satisfied with money, and anyone who loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is vanishing vapor.
11 When goods increase, so do those who eat them. What profit, then, does the owner get, except to see these things with his eyes?
12 The worker’s sleep is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but a rich person’s abundant possessions allow him no sleep.
13 I have seen a sickening evil under the sun—wealth hoarded by its owner to his own harm, 14 or wealth that is lost in a bad investment. Or a man fathers a son, but he has nothing left in his hand to give him. 15 As he came out from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came. From his hard work he can pick up nothing that he can carry away in his hand. 16 This too is a sickening evil: Just as he came, so he will go. So what does he gain, he who works for the wind? 17 Besides this, during all his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, sickness, and anger.
18 So then, here is what I have seen to be good: It is beautiful to eat, to drink, and to look for good in all a person’s hard work which he has done under the sun, during the few days of his life that God has given him, for that is his reward. 19 Likewise, for everyone to whom God has given wealth and riches, if God has also given him ability to eat from it, to enjoy his reward,[d] and to rejoice in the results of his hard work—this is a gift of God, 20 for the man seldom reflects on the days of his life, since God keeps him busy with the joy in his heart.
6 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, a common burden that people bear:[e] 2 God gives somebody wealth, riches, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of everything that he craves, but God does not give him the opportunity to eat it. Instead, a stranger eats it. This is vapor, and a sickening evil.
3 A man may father a hundred children and live many years, but if his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, no matter how many days he lives, I say, “A stillborn baby is better off than he is.” 4 Why? Because that baby comes like a vapor and leaves in darkness, and its name gets covered in darkness. 5 The baby does not see the sun or know it,[f] but it enjoys more peaceful rest than that man does, 6 even if that man would live a thousand years two times without enjoying good things. They all go to the same place, don’t they?
7 All of a man’s hard work is to feed his mouth, but his appetite[g] never feels satisfied.
8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? What advantage does a poor man gain, who knows how to keep walking among the living?[h] 9 Better to have eyes that look at what is actually there than desires that roam. This too is vapor and chasing the wind.
10 Whatever exists already has its name,[i] and it is already known what man is. He is not able to win in court against one who is stronger than he is.[j]
11 Yes, the more words,[k] the more vapor. What advantage does a man have?
12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, in the few days of his life, that vanishes like vapor, that passes like a shadow?[l] Who will tell the man what will be after him, under the sun?
What Is Better?
7 A good reputation is better than the best perfume, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of his birth. 2 Better to go to a funeral than to a feast,[m] since death is the final destination for all mankind. The living must take this to heart! 3 Grief is better than laughter, because a sad face does a heart good.
4 The hearts of the wise think about the funeral, but the hearts of fools think about the feast. 5 It is better to hear a rebuke from a wise man than to listen to a happy song from fools, 6 for the fool’s laughter sounds like thorns crackling under a cooking pot. This too is vapor.
7 To be sure, oppressing others[n] turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts his heart.
8 It is better to finish something than to begin something. A patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.
9 Do not be quick to lose your temper, for outrage is embraced by fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” Wisdom would not lead you to ask such a question.
11 Wisdom along with an inheritance[o] is good. It is an advantage for those who see the sun, 12 because wisdom gives shade as money gives shade, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps its owner alive.
Keep Your Balance
13 Look at the work of God. Indeed, who can straighten what he has bent?
14 On a good day, enjoy the good, but on a bad day, consider carefully. God has made the one as well as the other, so no man can find out about anything that will come later.
15 During my days that vanish like vapor, I have seen it all. For instance, a righteous man perishes despite being righteous, while an evil man lives for a long time in spite of his evil.
16 Do not be overly righteous. Do not trust too much in wisdom. Why ruin yourself? 17 Do not be overly wicked, either, and do not be a fool. Why die before your time? 18 It is good that you hang on to one alternative, but do not let go of the other, for one who fears God will avoid both extremes.[p]
19 Wisdom makes one wise man stronger than ten rulers who are in the city.
20 There is surely not a righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin.
21 Furthermore, do not take to heart all the words people say, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you. 22 Yes, you know in your heart that many times you too have cursed others.
23 All this I tested with wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was out of reach for me. 24 What has already happened is out of reach, and deeper than deep. Who can find it?
25 I turned my heart to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom, and to find out how things fit together,[q] and to know that wickedness is foolishness and stupidity is madness.
26 I kept finding out that a woman whose heart is a trap is more bitter than death. Her heart is a hunter’s net. Her hands are chains. The man whom God recognizes as good will escape from her, but the sinner gets trapped by her.
27 “Look,” says Ecclesiastes, “this is what I found by adding one thing to another in my attempts to find how things fit together— 28 this is something my soul keeps seeking but has not found. One man out of a thousand I have found, but a woman among all these I have not found.[r]
29 “Look, I have found only this: I have found that God made mankind[s] upright, but they have gone off looking for many schemes.”
8 Who is such a wise man? And who knows how to explain a situation? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine and softens the hard look on his face.
2 Obey the king’s command[t] because of your oath before God.[u] 3 Do not quickly leave his presence. Do not stand up for[v] a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 For a king’s word is supreme, and who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Whoever obeys a command will experience no harm, and a wise heart will know the right time and the right way to act, 6 because for each situation there is a right time and a right way to act, although evil may weigh a man down. 7 But no one knows what will be. Indeed, who can tell him what will be?[w] 8 As no one has power to restrain the wind, there is no power over the day of death. No discharge is granted during war, and wickedness will not deliver those who practice it.
Life Is Not Fair
9 All this I saw while I was applying my heart to every work done under the sun, during this time when one man has power over another to harm him.[x] 10 While doing this, I have seen wicked people buried. They had come and gone from the holy place, and they were praised[y] in the city where they had done so! This too is vapor.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not carried out quickly, people’s hearts are emboldened to do evil.
12 Though a sinner commits a hundred crimes and lives for a long time,[z] I nevertheless know that it will turn out well for those who fear God, who stand in awe before him. 13 But it will not be good for the wicked. Such a man will not lengthen his days like a shadow, since he does not stand in fear before God.
14 Another example of vapor that appears on the earth is when righteous people get what the wicked deserve for their actions, and wicked people get what the righteous deserve for their actions. I said, “This too is vapor.”
15 So I sang the praises of pleasure, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. Such joy will stay with him during his hard work, throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to observe the tiresome business done on the earth (even though it keeps a person from sleeping day or night), 17 I saw everything that God has done, but no man can grasp all the work that is done under the sun. No matter how hard a man works to explore it, he cannot discover it all. Even if the wise man claims to know it, he cannot find it.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.