Beginning

1 These are the words from the Teacher, a son of David and king of Jerusalem.

² Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher says that it is all a waste of time!^{[a] 3} Do people really gain anything from all the hard work they do in this life^[b]?

Things Never Change

⁴ People live and people die, but the earth continues forever. ⁵ The sun rises and the sun goes down, and then it hurries to rise again in the same place.

⁶ The wind blows to the south, and the wind blows to the north. The wind blows around and around. Then it turns and blows back to the place it began.

⁷ All rivers flow again and again to the same place. They all flow to the sea, but the sea never becomes full.

⁸ Words cannot fully explain things,^[c] but people continue speaking.^[d] Words come again and again to our ears, but our ears don’t become full. And our eyes don’t become full of what we see.

Nothing Is New

⁹ All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. The same things will be done that have always been done. There is nothing new in this life.

¹⁰ Someone might say, “Look, this is new,” but that thing has always been here. It was here before we were.

¹¹ People don’t remember what happened long ago. In the future, they will not remember what is happening now. And later, other people will not remember what the people before them did.

Does Wisdom Bring Happiness?

¹² I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ I decided to study and to use my wisdom to learn about everything that is done in this life. I learned that it is a very hard thing that God has given us to do. ¹⁴ I looked at everything done on earth, and I saw that it is all a waste of time. It is like trying to catch the wind.^{[e] 15} If something is crooked, you cannot say it is straight. And if something is missing, you cannot say it is there.

¹⁶ I said to myself, “I am very wise. I am wiser than all the kings who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.”

¹⁷ I decided to learn how wisdom and knowledge are better than thinking foolish thoughts. But I learned that trying to become wise is like trying to catch the wind. ¹⁸ With much wisdom comes frustration. The one who gains more wisdom also gains more sorrow.

Does “Having Fun” Bring Happiness?

2 I said to myself, “I should have fun—I should enjoy everything as much as I can.” But I learned that this is also useless. ² It is foolish to laugh all the time. Having fun does not do any good.

³ So I decided to fill my body with wine while I filled my mind with wisdom. I tried this foolishness because I wanted to find a way to be happy. I wanted to see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.

Does Hard Work Bring Happiness?

⁴ Then I began doing great things. I built houses, and I planted vineyards for myself. ⁵ I planted gardens, and I made parks. I planted all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶ I made pools of water for myself, and I used them to water my growing trees. ⁷ I bought men and women slaves, and there were slaves born in my house. I owned many great things. I had herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. I owned more things than any other person in Jerusalem did.

⁸ I also gathered silver and gold for myself. I took treasures from kings and their nations. I had men and women singing for me. I had everything any man could want.

⁹ I became very rich and famous. I was greater than anyone who lived in Jerusalem before me. My wisdom was always there to help me. ¹⁰ Anything my eyes saw and wanted, I got for myself. My mind was pleased with everything I did. And this happiness was the reward for all my hard work.

¹¹ But then I looked at everything I had done and the wealth I had gained. I decided it was all a waste of time! It was like trying to catch the wind.^[f] There is nothing to gain from anything we do in this life.^[g]

Maybe Wisdom Is the Answer

¹² Then I decided to think about what it means to be wise or to be foolish or to do crazy things. And I thought about the one who will be the next king. The new king will do the same as the kings before him.^{[h] 13} I saw that wisdom is better than foolishness in the same way that light is better than darkness. ¹⁴ Wise people use their minds like eyes to see where they are going. But for fools, it is as if they are walking in the dark.

I also saw that fools and wise people both end the same way. ¹⁵ I thought to myself, “The same thing that happens to a fool will also happen to me. So why have I tried so hard to become wise?” I said to myself, “Being wise is also useless.” ¹⁶ Whether people are wise or foolish, they will still die, and no one will remember either one of them forever. In the future, people will forget everything both of them did. So the two are really the same.

Is There Real Happiness in Life?

¹⁷ This made me hate life. It was depressing to think that everything in this life is useless, like trying to catch the wind.

¹⁸ I began to hate all the hard work I had done, because I saw that the people who live after me would get the things that I worked for. I will not be able to take them with me. ¹⁹ Some other person will control everything I worked and studied for. And I don’t know if that person will be wise or foolish. This is also senseless.

²⁰ So I became sad about all the work I had done. ²¹ People can work hard using all their wisdom and knowledge and skill. But they will die and other people will get the things they worked for. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. That makes me very sad. It is also not fair and is senseless.

²² What do people really have after all their work and struggling in this life? ²³ Throughout their life, they have pain, frustrations, and hard work. Even at night, a person’s mind does not rest. This is also senseless.

^24-25 There is no one who has tried to enjoy life more than I have. And this is what I learned: The best thing people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy the work they must do. I also saw that this comes from God.^{[i] 26} If people do good and please God, he will give them wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But those who sin will get only the work of gathering and carrying things. God takes from the bad person and gives to the good person. But all this work is useless. It is like trying to catch the wind.

A Time for Everything

3 There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.

God Controls His World

⁹ Do people really gain anything from their hard work? ¹⁰ I saw all the hard work God gave us to do. ¹¹ God gave us the ability to think about his world,^[k] but we can never completely understand everything he does. And yet, he does everything at just the right time.

¹² I learned that the best thing for people to do is to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. ¹³ God wants everyone to eat, drink, and enjoy their work. These are gifts from God.

¹⁴ I learned that anything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to the work of God, and they cannot take anything away from it. God did this so that people would respect him. ¹⁵ What happened in the past has happened, and what will happen in the future will happen. But God wants to help those who have been treated badly.^[l]

¹⁶ I also saw these things in this life^[m]: I saw that the courts should be filled with goodness and fairness, but there is evil there now. ¹⁷ So I said to myself, “God has planned a time for everything, and he has planned a time to judge everything people do. He will judge good people and bad people.”

Are People Like Animals?

¹⁸ I thought about what people do to each other. And I said to myself, “God wants people to see that they are like animals. ¹⁹ The same thing happens to animals and to people—they die. People and animals have the same ‘breath.’^[n] Is a dead animal different from a dead person? It is all so senseless! ²⁰ The bodies of people and animals end the same way. They came from the earth, and, in the end, they will go back to the earth. ²¹ Who knows what happens to a person’s spirit? Who knows if a human’s spirit goes up to God while an animal’s spirit goes down into the ground?”

²² So I saw that the best thing people can do is to enjoy what they do, because that is all they have. Besides, no one can help another person see what will happen in the future.

Is It Better to Be Dead?

4 Again I saw that many people are treated badly. I saw their tears, and I saw that there was no one to comfort them. I saw that cruel people had all the power, and I saw that there was no one to comfort the people they hurt. ² I decided that it is better for those who have died than for those who are still alive. ³ And it is even better for those who die at birth, because they never saw the evil that is done in this world.^[o]

Why Work So Hard?

⁴ Then I thought, “Why do people work so hard?” I saw people try to succeed and be better than other people. They do this because they are jealous. They don’t want other people to have more than they have. This is senseless. It is like trying to catch the wind.^[p]

⁵ Some people say, “It is foolish to fold your hands and do nothing. If you don’t work, you will starve to death.” ⁶ Maybe that is true. But I say it is better to be satisfied with the few things you have than to always be struggling to get more.

⁷ Again I saw something else that didn’t make sense: ⁸ I saw a man who has no family, not a son or even a brother. But he continues to work very hard. He is never satisfied with what he has. And he works so hard that he never stops and asks himself, “Why am I working so hard? Why don’t I let myself enjoy my life?” This is also a very bad and senseless thing.

Friends and Family Give Strength

⁹ Two people are better than one. When two people work together, they get more work done.

¹⁰ If one person falls, the other person can reach out to help. But those who are alone when they fall have no one to help them.

¹¹ If two people sleep together, they will be warm. But a person sleeping alone will not be warm.

¹² An enemy might be able to defeat one person, but two people can stand back-to-back to defend each other. And three people are even stronger. They are like a rope that has three parts wrapped together—it is very hard to break.

People, Politics, and Popularity

¹³ A young leader who is poor but wise is better than a king who is old but foolish. That old king does not listen to warnings. ¹⁴ Maybe the young ruler was born a poor man in the kingdom. And maybe he came from prison to rule the country. ¹⁵ But I have watched people in this life,^[q] and I know this: People will follow that young man. He will become the new king. ¹⁶ Many people will follow this young man. But later, those same people will not like him. This is also senseless. It is like trying to catch the wind.