Beginning
Keep Your Promise to God
5 Be careful what you say when you go to God’s house. Go there to listen. Don’t be like foolish people when you offer your sacrifice. They do what is wrong and don’t even know it.
2 Don’t be too quick to speak.
Don’t be in a hurry to say anything to God.
God is in heaven. You are on earth.
So use only a few words when you speak.
3 Many worries result in dreams.
Many words result in foolish talk.
4 When you make a promise to God, don’t wait too long to carry it out. He isn’t pleased with foolish people. So do what you have promised. 5 It is not good to make a promise and not keep it. It is better to make no promise at all. 6 Don’t let your mouth cause you to sin. Don’t say to the temple messenger, “My promise was a mistake.” Why should God be angry with what you say? Why should he destroy what you have done? 7 Dreaming too much and talking too much are meaningless. So have respect for God.
Riches Are Meaningless
8 Suppose you see poor people being mistreated somewhere. And what is being done to them isn’t right or fair. Don’t be surprised by that. One official is watched by a higher one. Officials who are even higher are watching both of them. 9 All of them take what the land produces. And the king himself takes his share from the fields.
10 Anyone who loves money never has enough.
Anyone who loves wealth is never satisfied with what they get.
That doesn’t have any meaning either.
11 As more and more goods are made,
more and more people use them up.
So how can those goods benefit their owners?
All they can do is look at them with desire.
12 The sleep of a worker is sweet.
It doesn’t matter whether they eat a little or a lot.
But the wealth of rich people
keeps them awake at night.
13 I’ve seen something very evil on earth.
It’s when wealth is stored up
and then brings harm to its owners.
14 It’s also when wealth is lost
because of an unwise business deal.
Then there won’t be anything left
for the owners’ children.
15 Everyone is born naked.
They come into the world with nothing.
And they go out of it with nothing.
They don’t get anything from their work
that they can take with them.
16 Here’s something else that is very evil.
Everyone is born, and everyone dies.
And what do they get for their work?
Nothing. It’s like working for the wind.
17 All their lives they eat in darkness.
Their lives are full of trouble, suffering and anger.
18 I have seen what is good. It is good for a person to eat and drink. It’s good for them to be satisfied with their hard work on this earth. That’s what they should do during the short life God has given them. That’s what God made them for. 19 Sometimes God gives a person wealth and possessions. God makes it possible for that person to enjoy them. God helps them accept the life he has given them. God helps them to be happy in their work. All these things are gifts from God. 20 A person like that doesn’t have to think about how their life is going. That’s because God fills their heart with joy.
6 I’ve seen another evil thing on this earth. And it’s a heavy load on human beings. 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor. They have everything their hearts desire. But God doesn’t let them enjoy those things. Instead, strangers enjoy them. This doesn’t have any meaning. It’s a very evil thing.
3 A man might have a hundred children. He might live a long time. But suppose he can’t enjoy his wealth. And suppose he isn’t buried in the proper way. Then it doesn’t matter how long he lives. I’m telling you that a baby that is born dead is better off than that man is. 4 That kind of birth doesn’t have any meaning. The baby dies in darkness and leaves this world. And in darkness it is forgotten. 5 It didn’t even see the sun. It didn’t know anything at all. But it has more rest than that man does. 6 And that’s true even if he lives for 2,000 years but doesn’t get to enjoy his wealth. All people die and go to the grave, don’t they?
7 People eat up everything they work to get.
But they are never satisfied.
8 What advantage do wise people have
over those who are foolish?
What do poor people gain
by knowing how to act toward others?
9 Being satisfied with what you have
is better than always wanting more.
That doesn’t have any meaning either.
It’s like chasing the wind.
10 God has already planned what now exists.
He has already decided what a human being is.
No one can argue with someone
who is stronger.
11 The more words people use,
the less meaning there is.
And that doesn’t help anyone.
12 Who knows what’s good for a person? They live for only a few meaningless days. They pass through life like a shadow. Who can tell them what will happen on earth after they are gone?
Good Advice About How to Live
7 A good name is better than fine perfume.
People can learn more from mourning when someone dies
than from being happy when someone is born.
2 So it’s better to go where people are mourning
than to go where people are having a good time.
Everyone will die someday.
Those who are still living
should really think about that.
3 Not being able to figure things out is better than laughter.
That’s because sorrow is good for the heart.
4 Those who are wise are found where there is sorrow.
But foolish people are found where there is pleasure.
5 Pay attention to a wise person’s warning.
That’s better than listening to the songs of those who are foolish.
6 A foolish person’s laughter
is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot.
That doesn’t have any meaning either.
7 When a wise person takes wealth by force, they become foolish.
It is sinful to take money from people who want special favors.
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning.
So it’s better to be patient than proud.
9 Don’t become angry quickly.
Anger lives in the hearts of foolish people.
10 Don’t say, “Why were things better in the good old days?”
It isn’t wise to ask that kind of question.
11 Wisdom is a good thing.
It’s like getting a share of the family wealth.
It benefits those who live on this earth.
12 Wisdom provides safety,
just as money provides safety.
But here’s the advantage of wisdom.
It guards those who have it.
13 Think about what God has done.
Who can make straight
what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy.
But when times are bad, here’s something to think about.
God has made bad times.
He has also made good times.
So no one can find out anything
about what’s ahead for them.
15 In my meaningless life here’s what I’ve seen.
I’ve seen godly people dying
even though they are godly.
And I’ve seen sinful people living a long time
even though they are sinful.
16 Don’t claim to be better than you are.
And don’t claim to be wiser than you are.
Why destroy yourself?
17 Don’t be too sinful.
And don’t be foolish.
Why die before your time comes?
18 It’s good to hold on to both of those things.
Don’t let go of either one.
Whoever has respect for God will avoid
going too far in either direction.
19 Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.
20 It is true that there isn’t anyone on earth
who does only what is right and never sins.
21 Don’t pay attention to everything people say.
If you do, you might hear your servant cursing you.
22 Many times you yourself have cursed others.
Deep down inside, you know that’s true.
23 I used wisdom to test all these things. I said,
“I’ve made up my mind to be wise.”
But it was more than I could accomplish.
24 Whatever exists is far away and very deep.
Who can find it?
25 So I tried to understand wisdom more completely.
I wanted to study it and figure it out.
I tried to find out everything I could about it.
I tried to understand why it’s foolish to be evil.
I wanted to see why choosing foolishness is so unwise.
26 A woman who hunts a man down
is more painful than death.
Her heart is like a trap.
Her hands are like chains.
A man who pleases God will try to get away from her.
But she will trap a sinner.
27 “Look,” says the Teacher. “Here’s what I’ve discovered.
“I added one thing to another to find out
everything I could about wisdom.
28 I searched and searched
but found very little.
I did find one honest man among a thousand.
But I didn’t find one honest woman among a thousand.
29 Here’s the only other thing I found.
God created human beings as honest.
But they’ve made many evil plans.”
8 Who is like a wise person?
Who knows how to explain things?
A person’s wisdom makes their face bright.
It softens the look on their face.
Obey the King
2 I’m telling you to obey the king’s command. You promised to serve him. You made a promise to God. 3 Don’t be in a hurry to quit your job in the palace. Don’t stand up for something the king doesn’t like. He’ll do anything he wants to. 4 The king has the final word. So who can ask him, “What are you doing?”
5 No one who obeys his command will be harmed.
Those who are wise will know the proper time and way to approach him.
6 There’s a proper time and way for people to do everything.
That’s true even though a person might be suffering greatly.
7 No one knows what lies ahead.
So who can tell someone else what’s going to happen?
8 No one can stop the wind from blowing.
And no one has the power to decide when they will die.
No one is let out of the army in times of war.
And evil won’t let go of those who practice it.
9 I understood all these things. I used my mind to study everything that’s done on earth. A man sometimes makes life hard for others. But he ends up hurting himself. 10 I also saw sinful people being buried. They used to come and go from the place of worship. And others praised them in the city where they worshiped. That doesn’t have any meaning either.
11 Sometimes the sentence for a crime isn’t carried out quickly. So people make plans to commit even more crimes. 12 An evil person may be guilty of a hundred crimes. Yet they may still live a long time. But I know that things will go better with those who have great respect for God. 13 Sinful people don’t respect God. So things won’t go well with them. Like a shadow, they won’t be around very long.
14 Here’s something else on this earth that doesn’t have any meaning. Sometimes godly people get what sinful people should receive. And sinful people get what godly people should receive. Here’s what I’m telling you. That doesn’t have any meaning either. 15 So I advise everyone to enjoy life. A person on this earth can’t do anything better than eat and drink and be glad. Then they will enjoy their work. They’ll be happy all the days of the life God has given them on earth.
16 I used my mind to understand what it really means to be wise. I wanted to observe the hard work people do on earth. They don’t close their eyes and go to sleep day or night. 17 I saw everything God has done. No one can understand what happens on earth. People might try very hard to figure it out. But they still can’t discover what it all means. Wise people might claim they know. But they can’t really understand it either.
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