Beginning

1 ¶ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

² Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

³ What profit does a man have of all his labour which he takes under the sun?

⁴ ¶ One generation passes away, and another generation comes, but the earth abides for ever.

⁵ The sun arises, and the sun goes down, and with desire returns to his place from which he arises again.

⁶ The wind goes toward the south and turns about unto the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to its circuits.

⁷ All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, there they return again.

⁸ All things are full of labour; more than man can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹ ¶ The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.

¹⁰ Is there any thing of which it may be said, See, this is new? it has been already of old time which was before us.

¹¹ There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

¹² ¶ I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³ And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven (this sore travail God has given to the sons of man that they be occupied in it).

¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

¹⁵ That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is lacking cannot be numbered.

¹⁶ I communed with my own heart, saying, Behold, I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all those that have been before me in Jerusalem; and my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

¹⁷ And I gave my heart to know wisdom and knowledge and to know folly and those who are mad; I learned in the end that this also is vexation of spirit.

¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.

2 ¶ I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy good things; and, behold, this also is vanity.

² I said of laughter, It is mad, and of mirth, What does it do?

³ I proposed in my heart to regale my flesh with wine and that my heart would walk in wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

⁴ I made myself great works; I built myself houses; I planted myself vineyards;

⁵ I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits;

⁶ I made myself pools of water, to water with them the forest that brings forth trees;

⁷ I got myself slaves and maidens and had sons born in my house; also I had great possessions of cattle and sheep above all that were in Jerusalem before me;

⁸ I gathered unto myself also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I obtained men singers and women singers and all the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and those of all sorts.

⁹ So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem, and more than that, my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰ And 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 labour, and this was my portion of all my labour.

¹¹ At last I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do; and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

¹² ¶ And I turned myself to behold wisdom and those who are mad, and folly; for what can the man do that comes after the king? even that which has already been done.

¹³ And I have seen that wisdom excels folly as far as light excels darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness: And I myself also understood that one event happens to the one and to the other.

¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, As it shall happen to the fool, so it shall happen even to me. Why have I worked until now to make myself wiser? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹⁶ For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever, seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And also the wise man shall die the same as the fool.

¹⁷ ¶ Therefore I hated life because every work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all was vanity and vexation of spirit.

¹⁸ Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun, which I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

¹⁹ And who knows whether he shall be a wise man or a fool, he who shall have rule over all my labour in which I have laboured and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun? This is also vanity.

²⁰ Therefore my heart began to despair again regarding all the labour which I took under the sun.

²¹ That the man who worked with wisdom and with knowledge and with uprightness would have to leave his portion to a man that has not laboured therein. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²² For what does man have of all his labour and of the vexation of his heart in which he has laboured under the sun?

²³ For all his days are only sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart does not take rest in the night. This is also vanity.

²⁴ There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. I also have seen that this is from the hand of God.

²⁵ For who can eat, or who can care for himself better than I?

²⁶ For God gives to the man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to the one that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

3 ¶ For all things there is a season, and every will under the heaven has its time determined.

² A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

³ a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷ a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

⁹ What profit does the one that works have in that in which he labours?

¹⁰ I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of men that they may be occupied in it.

¹¹ ¶ He has made every thing beautiful in his time: even the world he has given over to their will, in such a way that no man can attain to this work that God makes from the beginning to the end.

¹² I have learned that there is nothing better for them, but to rejoice and to do good in his life.

¹³ And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labour; it is the gift of God.

¹⁴ I have understood that whatever God does, it shall be for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it because God does it that men should fear before him.

¹⁵ That which has been is now, and that which is to be has already been and God shall seek that which is past.

¹⁶ ¶ And moreover I saw under the sun that instead of judgment, there was wickedness; and instead of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time determined to judge every will and regarding everything that is done.

¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts one to another.

¹⁹ For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even one thing befalls them: as the one dies, so dies the other; and they all have one breath; so that a man has no more breath than a beast: for all is vanity.

²⁰ All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all shall turn to dust again.

²¹ Who knows that the spirit of the sons of men goes upward and that the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth?

²² Therefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

4 ¶ So I returned and considered all the violence that is done under the sun and behold the tears of such as are oppressed, and they have no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but the oppressed had no comforter.

² Therefore I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive.

³ And I thought that better is he than both of them who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil works that are done under the sun.

⁴ ¶ Again, I considered all travail and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

⁵ The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh.

⁶ Better is a handful with rest than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

⁷ ¶ Then I returned, and I saw another vanity under the sun.

⁸ It is the man who is alone, without a successor, who has neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity and sore travail.

⁹ Two are better than one because they have a better reward for their labour.

¹⁰ For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls, for he has not another to help him up.

¹¹ Again, if two sleep together, then they have heat, but how can one be warm alone?

¹² And if one prevails against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³ ¶ Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished.

¹⁴ For he came out of prison to reign, even though he was born poor into his kingdom.

¹⁵ I saw all the living who are under the sun walking with the child, the successor that shall stand up in his stead.

¹⁶ There is no end of all the people that have been before them; those also that come after shall not be content in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.