Beginning
Fear God
5 [a](A)Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the (B)sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. 2 [b]Do not be (C)hasty with your mouth or [c]impulsive in your heart to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven but you are on the earth; therefore let your (D)words be few. 3 For the dream comes through abundant endeavor and the voice of a (E)fool through abundant words.
4 When you (F)make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. (G)Pay what you vow! 5 It is (H)better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin, and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a (I)mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and wreak destruction on the work of your hands? 7 For in many dreams and vanities are many words. Rather, [d](J)fear God.
The Vanity of Riches
8 If you see (K)oppression of the poor and (L)robbery of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be (M)astonished over the [e]matter; for a lofty one keeps watch over another lofty one, and there are loftier ones over them. 9 But the advantage of the land in everything is this—a king committed to a cultivated field.
10 (N)He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its produce. This too is [f]vanity. 11 (O)When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the success to their masters except to look on with their eyes? 12 The sleep of the laboring man is (P)sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the satisfaction of the rich man does not [g]allow him to sleep.
13 There is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun: (Q)riches being [h]hoarded by their master to his own evil demise. 14 And those riches were lost through a bad endeavor; and he became the father of a son, but there was nothing in his hand for him. 15 (R)As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will (S)carry nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can bring in his hand. 16 This also is a sickening evil—exactly as a man came, so will he go. So (T)what is the advantage to him who (U)labors for the wind? 17 Also, all his days (V)he eats in darkness with (W)much vexation, and his sickness and anger.
18 Here is what I have seen to be (X)good, which is [i]beautiful: to eat, to drink, and to see good in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God has given him; for this is his (Y)portion. 19 Furthermore, as for every man to whom (Z)God has given riches and wealth, He has also (AA)empowered him to eat from them and to take up his portion and be glad in his labor; this is the (AB)gift of God. 20 For he will not remember much the days of his life because (AC)God allows [j]him to occupy himself with the gladness of his heart.
The Vanity of Life
6 There is an (AD)evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent [k]among men— 2 a man to whom God (AE)gives riches and wealth and honor so that his soul (AF)lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God does not empower him to eat from them, for a foreigner eats from them. This is [l]vanity and a sickening evil. 3 If a man becomes the father of one hundred children and lives many years, however many the days of his years may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things, and he does not even have a proper (AG)burial, then I say, “Better (AH)the miscarriage than he, 4 for that one comes in vanity and goes into darkness; and that one’s name is covered in darkness. 5 Indeed, that one never sees the sun and never knows anything; [m]that one has more rest than he. 6 Even if the other man lives one thousand years twice and does not see good things—(AI)do not all go to the same place?”
7 (AJ)All a man’s labor is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not fulfilled. 8 For (AK)what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the afflicted man have, knowing how to walk before the living? 9 What the eyes (AL)see is better than what the soul goes after. This too is (AM)vanity and striving after wind.
10 Whatever (AN)exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; and he (AO)cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is. 11 For there are many words which increase vanity. What then is the advantage to a man? 12 For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few days of his vain life? He will make do with them like a (AP)shadow. For who can tell a man (AQ)what will be after him under the sun?
Wisdom and Folly Contrasted
7 Better is a (AR)good name than good oil,
And better is the (AS)day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.
2 Better to go to a house of mourning
Than to go to a house of feasting
Because [n]that is the (AT)end of all mankind,
And the living (AU)puts this in his heart.
3 (AV)Better is vexation than laughter,
For (AW)when a face is sad a heart may be merry.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
While the heart of fools is in the house of gladness.
5 Better to (AX)listen to the rebuke of a wise man
Than for one to listen to the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling sound of (AY)thorn bushes under a pot,
So is the (AZ)laughter of the fool;
And this too is vanity.
7 For (BA)oppression gives a wise man over to madness,
And a (BB)bribe [o]destroys the heart.
8 Better is the (BC)end of a matter than its beginning;
(BD)Better is patience of spirit than haughtiness of spirit.
9 Do not be [p](BE)eager in your spirit to be vexed,
For vexation rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.
11 Wisdom along with an inheritance is good
And an (BF)advantage to those who see the sun.
12 For (BG)wisdom is a (BH)shadow of protection as money is a shadow of protection,
And the advantage of knowledge is that (BI)wisdom preserves the lives of its masters.
13 See the (BJ)work of God,
For who is (BK)able to straighten what He has bent?
14 (BL)In the day when there is good be of good cheer,
But (BM)in the day when there is evil see—
God has made the one as well as the other
So that man will (BN)not find out anything that will be after him.
15 I have seen everything during my (BO)days of vanity; there is (BP)a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is (BQ)a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Do not be excessively (BR)righteous, and do not (BS)be overly wise. Why should you make yourself desolate? 17 Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a simpleminded fool. Why should you (BT)die before your time? 18 It is good that you seize one thing and also not [q]let go of the other; for the one who (BU)fears God comes forth with [r]both of them.
19 (BV)Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten men with power who are in a city. 20 Indeed, (BW)there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. 21 Also, do not give your heart to all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your slave (BX)cursing you. 22 For your heart also knows that you likewise have many times cursed others.
23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” (BY)but it was far from me. 24 What has been is far away and (BZ)exceedingly deep. (CA)Who can find it? 25 I (CB)turned my heart to know, to explore, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the wickedness of foolishness and the simpleminded folly of madness. 26 And I found more (CC)bitter than death the woman whose heart is (CD)snares and nets, whose hands are chains. (CE)One who is good before God will escape from her, but (CF)the sinner will be captured by her.
27 “See, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “adding one thing to another to find an explanation, 28 which my soul still seeks but has not found. I have found one man out of a thousand, but I have not found a (CG)woman among all these. 29 See, I have found only this, that (CH)God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”
Keep the Command of the King
8 Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom (CI)illumines his face and causes his (CJ)stern face to [s]beam.
2 I say, “Keep the [t]command of the king because of the (CK)sworn oath [u]before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry (CL)to go from his presence. Do not stand in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.” 4 Since the word of the king is powerful, (CM)who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 He who (CN)keeps a royal command (CO)experiences no evil thing, for a wise heart knows the proper time and custom. 6 For (CP)there is a proper time and custom for every [v]matter, though a man’s trouble is multiplied upon him. 7 If no one (CQ)knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? 8 (CR)There is no man who has power to restrain the wind with the wind, and there is none who has power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and (CS)wickedness will not provide escape to its masters. 9 All this I have seen and given my heart to every work that has been done under the sun wherein a man has (CT)power over another man to his calamity.
10 So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are (CU)soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is vanity. 11 Because the (CV)sentence against an evil work is not executed quickly, therefore (CW)the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. 12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may (CX)prolong his life, still I know that it will be (CY)well for those who fear God, who fear [w]Him openly. 13 But it will (CZ)not be well for the wicked man, and he will not prolong his days like a (DA)shadow, because he does not fear [x]God openly.
14 There is vanity which is done on the earth, that is, there are (DB)righteous men to whom it [y]happens according to the works of the wicked. On the other hand, there are (DC)wicked men to whom it [z]happens according to the works of the righteous. I say that this too is vanity. 15 So I laud gladness, for there is nothing good for (DD)a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to [aa]be merry, and this will join with him in his labor throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
16 When I (DE)gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the endeavor which has been done on the earth (even though one (DF)never sees sleep with his eyes day or night), 17 and I saw every work of God, I concluded that (DG)man cannot find out the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not find it out; and (DH)though the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot find it out.
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