Ecclesiastes
Chapter 1
1:1The words of the Preacher, the son of David King in Jerusalem.
1:2Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher:vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
1:3What remains to man in all his toil, at which he toils under the sun?
1:4One generation passes,and another generation succeeds:but the earth remains forever.
1:5The sun rises,and the sun goes down,and draws to his place, where he rises.
1:6The wind goes toward the South,and compasses toward the North:the wind goes round about,and returns by his circuit.
1:7All the rivers go into the sea, yet the sea is not full:for the rivers go to the place, from where they return,and go.
1:8All things are full of labor:man cannot utter it:the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
1:9What is it that has been? That that shall be:and what is it that has been done? That which shall be done:and there is no new thing under the sun.
1:10Is there anything, of what one may say, Behold this, it is new? It has been already in the old time that was before us.
1:11There is no memory of the former,neither shall there be a remembrance of the latter that shall be, with them that shall come after.
1:12I the Preacher have been King over Israel in Jerusalem:
1:13And I have given my heart to search and find out wisdom by all things that are done under the heaven: (this burdensome task has Elohim given to the sons of men, to humble them by it)
1:14I have considered all the works that are done under the sun,and behold, all is vanity,and vexation of the spirit.
1:15That which is crooked, can none make straight:and that which fails, cannot be numbered.
1:16I thought in my heart,and said, Behold, I am become great,and excel in wisdom all them that have been before me in Jerusalem:and my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.
1:17And I gave my heart to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and foolishness:I knew also that this is a vexation of the spirit.
1:18For in the multitude of wisdom is much grief:and he that increases knowledge, increases sorrow.
Chapter 2
2:1I said in my heart, Go to now, I will prove you with joy:therefore take you pleasure in pleasant things:and behold, this also is vanity.
2:2I said of laughter, You are mad:and of joy, What is this that you do?
2:3I sought in my heart to draw my flesh with wine, and to lead my heart in wisdom, and to take hold of folly, till I might see where is that goodness of the children of men, who they enjoy under the sun: the whole number of the days of their life.
2:4I have made my great works:I have built me houses:I have planted me vineyards.
2:5I have made me gardens and orchards,and planted in them trees of all fruit.
2:6I have made me cisterns of water, to water with it the woods that grow with trees.
2:7I have gotten servants and maids,and had children born in the house:also I had great possession of cattle and sheep above all that were before me in Jerusalem.
2:8I have gathered to me also silver and gold,and the chief treasures of Kings and provinces:I have provided me men singers and women singers,and the delights of the sons of men, as a woman taken captive,and women taken captives.
2:9And I was great,and increased above all that were before me in Jerusalem:also my wisdom remained with me.
2:10And whatever my eyes desired, I withheld it not from them:I withdrew not my heart from any joy:for my heart rejoiced in all my labor:and this was my portion from all my labor.
2:11Then I looked on all my works that my hands had worked,and on the toil that I had labored to do:and behold, all is vanity and vexation of the spirit:and there is no profit under the sun.
2:12And I turned to behold wisdom,and madness and folly:(for who is the man that will come after the King in things, which men now have done?)
2:13Then I saw that there is profit in wisdom, more than in folly:as the light is more excellent than darkness.
2:14For the wise man's eyes are in his head,but the fool walks in darkness:yet I know also that the same condition falls to them all.
2:15Then I thought in my heart, It befalls to me, as it befalls to the fool. Why therefore do I then labor to be more wise? And I said in my heart,that this also is vanity.
2:16For there shall be no remembrance of the wise, nor of the fool forever:for that that now is, in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dies the wise man, as does the fool?
2:17Therefore I hated life:for the work that is worked under the sun is grievous to me:for all is vanity,and vexation of the spirit.
2:18I hated also all my labor, in which I had labored under the sun, which I shall leave to the man that shall be after me.
2:19And who knows whether he shall be wise or foolish? Yet shall he have rule over all my labor, in which I have labored, and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
2:20Therefore I went about to make my heart abhor all the labor, in which I had labored under the sun.
2:21For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge and in equity: yet to a man that has not labored in this, shall he give his portion: this also is vanity and a great grief.
2:22For what has man of all his labor and grief of his heart, in which he has labored under the sun?
2:23For all his days are sorrows, and his labor is grief: his heart also takes not rest in the night: which also is vanity.
2:24There is no profit to man:but that he eat,and drink,and delight his nephesh with the profit of his labor:I saw also this,that it was of the hand of Elohim.
2:25For who could eat,and who could haste to outward things more than I?
2:26Surely to a man that is good in his sight, Elohim gives wisdom,and knowledge,and joy:but to the sinner he gives pain, to gather,and to heap to give to him that is good before God:this is also vanity,and vexation of the spirit.
Chapter 3
3:1To all things there is an appointed time,and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
3:2A time to be born,and a time to die:a time to plant,and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
3:3A time to slay,and a time to heal:a time to break down,and a time to build.
3:4A time to weep,and a time to laugh:a time to mourn,and a time to dance.
3:5A time to cast away stones,and a time to gather stones:a time to embrace,and a time to be far from embracing.
3:6A time to seek,and a time to lose:a time to keep,and a time to cast away.
3:7A time to rent,and a time to sow:a time to keep silence,and a time to speak.
3:8A time to love,and a time to hate:a time of war,and a time of peace.
3:9What profit has he that works of the thing in what he labors?
3:10I have seen the task that Elohim has given to the sons of men to humble them by it.
3:11He has made everything beautiful in his time:also he has set the world in their heart, yet cannot man find out the work that Elohim has worked from the beginning even to the end.
3:12I know that there is nothing good in them,but to rejoice,and to do good in his life.
3:13And also that every man eats and drinks,and sees the commodity of all his labor. This is the gift of Elohim.
3:14I know that whatever Elohim shall do, it shall be forever:to it can no man add,and from it can none diminish:for Elohim has done it,that they should fear before him.
3:15What is that that has been? That is now:and that that shall be, has now been:for Elohim requires that which is past.
3:16And moreover I have seen under the sun the place of judgment, where was wickedness,and the place of justice where was iniquity.
3:17I thought in my heart, Elohim will judge the just and the wicked:for time is there for every purpose and for every work.
3:18I considered in my heart the state of the children of men that Elohim had purged them:yet to see to, they are in themselves as beasts.
3:19For the condition of the children of men,and the condition of beasts are even as one condition to them. As the one dies, so dies the other:for they have all one breath,and there is no excellency of man above the beast:for all is vanity.
3:20All go to one place,and all was of the dust,and all shall return to the dust.
3:21Who knows whether the spirit of man ascend upward,and the spirit of the beast descend down to the earth?
3:22Therefore I see that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his affairs, because that is his portion. For who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
Chapter 4
4:1So I turned and considered all the oppressions that are worked under the sun,and behold the tears of the oppressed,and none comforts them:and lo, the strength is of the hand of them that oppress them,and none comforts them.
4:2Therefore I praised the dead which now are dead, above the living, which are yet alive.
4:3And I count him better than them both, which has not yet been:for he has not seen the evil works which are worked under the sun.
4:4Also I saw all labor,and all perfection of works that this is the envy of a man against his neighbor:this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
4:5The fool folds his hands,and eats up his own flesh.
4:6Better is a handful with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and vexation of spirit.
4:7Again I returned,and saw vanity under the sun.
4:8There is one alone,and there is not a second, which has neither son nor brother, yet is there no end of all his labor,neither can his eye be satisfied with riches:neither does he think,For whom do I labor and defraud my nephesh of pleasure? This also is vanity,and this is an evil task.
4:9Two are better than one:for they have better wages for their labor.
4:10For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow:but woe to him that is alone:for he falls,and there is not a second to lift him up.
4:11Also if two sleep together, then shall they have heat:but to one how should there be heat?
4:12And if one overcome him, two shall stand against him:and a threefold cord is not easily broken.
4:13Better is a poor and wise child, than an old and foolish King, who will no more be admonished.
4:14For out of the prison he comes forth to reign:when as he that is born in his kingdom, is made poor.
4:15I saw all the living, which walk under the sun, with the second child, who shall stand up in his place.
4:16There is no end of all the people, nor of all that were before them, and they that come after, shall not rejoice in him: surely this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
4:17Take heed to your foot when you enter into the House of Elohim, and be more near to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil.
Chapter 5
5:1Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a thing before Elohim:for Elohim is in the heavens,and you are on the earth:therefore let your words be few.
5:2For as a dream comes by the multitude of business:so the voice of a fool is in the multitude of words.
5:3When you have vowed a vow to Elohim, defer not to pay it:for he delights not in fools:pay therefore that you have vowed.
5:4It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay it.
5:5Suffer not your mouth to make your flesh to sin:neither say before the Angel,that this is ignorance:why shall Elohim be angry by your voice,and destroy the work of your hands?
5:6For in the multitude of dreams,and vanities are also many words:but fear Elohim.
5:7If in a country you see the oppression of the poor,and the defrauding of judgment and justice, be not astonished at the matter:for he that is higher than the highest, regards,and there be higher than they.
5:8And the abundance of the earth is over all:the King also consists by the field that is tilled.
5:9He that loves silver, shall not be satisfied with silver, and he that loves riches, shall be without the fruit of it: this also is vanity.
5:10When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good comes to the owners of it, but the beholding of it with their eyes?
5:11The sleep of him who labors, is sweet, whether he eat little or much:but the satiety of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
5:12There is an evil sickness that I have seen under the sun: namely, riches reserved to the owners of it for their evil.
5:13And these riches perish by evil travel,and he begets a son,and in his hand is nothing.
5:14As he came forth from his mother's belly, he shall return naked to go as he came,and shall bear away nothing of his labor, which he has caused to pass by his hand.
5:15And this also is an evil sickness that in all points as he came, so shall he go,and what profit has he that he has labored for the wind?
5:16Also all his days he eats in darkness with much grief,and in his sorrow and anger.
5:17Behold then, what I have seen good, that it is comely to eat, and to drink, and to take pleasure in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, the whole number of the days of his life, which Elohim gives him: for this is his portion.
5:18Also to every man to whom Elohim has given riches and treasures,and gives him power to eat of it,and to take his part,and to enjoy his labor:this is the gift of Elohim.
5:19Surely he will not much remember the days of his life, because Elohim answers to the joy of his heart.
Chapter 6
6:1There is an evil, which I saw under the sun,and it is much among men:
6:2A man to whom Elohim has given riches and treasures and honor,and he wants nothing for his nephesh of all that it desires:but Elohim gives him not power to eat of it,but a strange man shall eat it up:this is vanity,and this is an evil sickness.
6:3If a man beget a hundred children and live many years,and the days of his years be multiplied,and his nephesh be not satisfied with good things,and he be not buried, I say that an untimely fruit is better than he.
6:4For he comes into vanity and goes into darkness:and his name shall be covered with darkness.
6:5Also he has not seen the sun, nor known it:therefore this has more rest than the other.
6:6And if he had lived a thousand years twice told,and had seen no good, shall not all go to one place?
6:7All the labor of man is for his mouth:yet the nephesh is not filled.
6:8For what has the wise man more than the fool? What has the poor that knows how to walk before the living?
6:9The sight of the eye is better than to walk in the lusts:this also is vanity,and vexation of spirit.
6:10What is that that has been? The name of it is now named: and it is known that it is man: and he cannot strive with him that is stronger than he.
6:11Surely there be many things that increase vanity:and what avails it man?
6:12For who knows what is good for man in the life and in the number of the days of the life of his vanity, seeing he makes them as a shadow? For who can show to man what shall be after him under the sun?
Chapter 7
7:1A good name is better than a good ointment,and the day of death, than the day that one is born.
7:2It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting, because this is the end of all men:and the living shall lay it to his heart.
7:3Anger is better than laughter:for by a sad look the heart is made better.
7:4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning:but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
7:5Better it is to hear the rebuke of a wise man, than that a man should hear the song of fools.
7:6For like the noise of the thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool:this also is vanity.
7:7Surely oppression makes a wise man mad:and the reward destroys the heart.
7:8The end of a thing is better than the beginning of it, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
7:9Be not you of a hasty spirit to be angry:for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
7:10Say not you, Why is it that the former days were better than these? For you do not inquire wisely of this thing.
7:11Wisdom is good with an inheritance,and excellent to them that see the sun.
7:12For man shall rest in the shadow of wisdom, and in the shadow of silver: but the excellency of the knowledge of wisdom gives life to the prosperity of it.
7:13Behold the work of Elohim:for who can make straight that which he has made crooked?
7:14In the day of wealth be of good comfort,and in the day of affliction consider:Elohim also has made this contrary to that, to the intent that man should find nothing after him.
7:15I have seen all things in the days of my vanity:there is a just man that perishes in his justice,and there is a wicked man that continues long in his malice.
7:16Be not the just overmuch,neither make yourself overwise:why should you be desolate?
7:17Be not the wicked overmuch,neither be you foolish:why should you perish not in your time?
7:18It is good that you lay hold on this:but yet withdraw not your hand from that:for he that fears Elohim, shall come forth from them all.
7:19Wisdom shall strengthen the wise man more than ten mighty princes that are in the city.
7:20Surely there is no man just in the earth,that does good and sins not.
7:21Do not give your heart also to all the words that men speak,lest you hear your servant cursing you.
7:22For often times also your heart knows that you likewise have cursed others.
7:23All this have I proved by wisdom:I thought I will be wise,but it went far from me.
7:24It is far off, what may it be? And it is a profound deepness, who can find it?
7:25I have compassed about, both I and my heart to know and to inquire and to search wisdom,and reason,and to know the wickedness of folly,and the foolishness of madness,
7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is as nets and snares,and her hands, as bands:he that is good before Elohim, shall be delivered from her,but the sinner shall be taken by her.
7:27Behold, says the Preacher, this have I found, seeking one by one to find the count:
7:28And yet my nephesh seeks, but I find it not: I have found one man of a thousand: but a woman among them all have I not found.
7:29Only lo, this have I found, that Elohim has made man righteous: but they have sought many inventions.
Chapter 8
8:1Who is as the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? The wisdom of a man does make his face to shine:and the strength of his face shall be changed.
8:2I advertise you to take heed to the mouth of the King,and to the word of the oath of Elohim.
8:3Haste not to go forth of his sight:do not stand in an evil thing:for he will do whatever pleases him.
8:4Where the word of the King is, there is power,and who shall say to him, What are you doing?
8:5He that keeps the commandment, shall know none evil thing,and the heart of the wise shall know the time and judgment.
8:6For to every purpose there is a time and judgment, because the misery of man is great upon him.
8:7For he knows not that which shall be:for who can tell him when it shall be?
8:8Man is not lord over the spirit to retain the spirit:neither has he power in the day of death, nor deliverance in the battle,neither shall wickedness deliver the power there.
8:9All this have I seen,and have given my heart to every work, which is worked under the sun,and I saw a time that man rules over man to his own hurt.
8:10And likewise I saw the wicked buried,and they returned,and they that came from the holy place, were yet forgotten in the city where they had done right:this also is vanity.
8:11Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily,therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to do evil.
8:12Though a sinner do evil a hundred times,and Elohim prolongs his days, yet I know that it shall be well with them that fear the Lord,and do reverence before him.
8:13But it shall not be well to the wicked,neither shall he prolong his days:he shall be like a shadow, because he fears not before Elohim.
8:14There is a vanity, which is done upon the earth,that there be righteous men to whom it comes according to the work of the wicked:and there be wicked men to whom it comes according to the work of the just:I thought also that this is vanity.
8:15And I praised joy:for there is no goodness to man under the sun, save to eat and to drink and to rejoice:for this is adjoined to his labor, the days of his life that Elohim has given him under the sun.
8:16When I applied my heart to know wisdom,and to behold the business that is done on earth,that neither day nor night the eyes of man take sleep,
8:17Then I saw the whole work of Elohim,that man cannot find out the work that is worked under the sun:for the which man labors to seek it,and cannot find it:yes,and though the wise man think to know it, he cannot find it.
Chapter 9
9:1I have surely given my heart to all this,and to declare all this,that the just,and the wise,and their works are in the hand of Elohim:and no man knows either love or hatred of all that is before them.
9:2All things come alike to all:and the same condition is to the just and to the wicked, to the good and to the pure,and to the polluted,and to him that sacrifices,and to him that sacrifices not:as is the good, so is the sinner, he that swears, as he that fears an oath.
9:3This is evil among all that is done under the sun,that there is one condition to all,and also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil,and madness is in their hearts while they live,and after that, they go to the dead.
9:4Surely whoever is joined to all the living, there is hope:for it is better to a living dog, than to a dead lion.
9:5For the living know that they shall die,but the dead know nothing at all:neither have they any more a reward:for their remembrance is forgotten.
9:6Also their love,and their hatred,and their envy is now perished,and they have no more portion forever, in all that is done under the sun.
9:7Go, eat your bread with joy,and drink your wine with a cheerful heart:for Elohim now accepts your works.
9:8At all times let your garments be white,and let not oil be lacking upon your head.
9:9Rejoice with the wife whom you have loved all the days of the life of your vanity, which Elohim has given you under the sun all the days of your vanity: for this is your portion in the life, and in your toil in which you labor under the sun.
9:10All that your hand shall find to do, do it with all your power:for there is neither work nor invention, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in Sheol where you go.
9:11I returned,and I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor also riches to men of understanding,neither yet favor to men of knowledge:but time and chance comes to them all.
9:12For neither does man know his time,but as the fish which are taken in an evil net,and as the birds that are caught in the snare:so are the children of men snared in the evil time when it falls upon them suddenly.
9:13I have also seen this wisdom under the sun,and it is great to me.
9:14A little city and few men in it,and a great King came against it,and compassed it about,and built forts against it.
9:15And there was found in it a poor and wise man, and he delivered the city by his wisdom: but none remembered this poor man.
9:16Then said I, Better is wisdom than strength:yet the wisdom of the poor is despised,and his words are not heard.
9:17The words of the wise are more heard in quietness, than the cry of him that rules among fools.
9:18Better is wisdom than weapons of war:but one sinner destroys much good.
Chapter 10
10:1Dead flies cause to stink,and putrefy the ointment of the apothecary:so does a little folly him that is in estimation for wisdom,and for glory.
10:2The heart of a wise man is at his right hand:but the heart of a fool is at his left hand.
10:3And also when the fool goes by the way, his heart fails,and he tells to all that he is a fool.
10:4If the spirit of him that rules, rise up against you, leave not your place:for gentleness pacifies great sins.
10:5There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as an error that proceeds from the face of him that rules.
10:6Folly is set in great excellency,and the rich set in the low place.
10:7I have seen servants on horses,and princes walking as servants on the ground.
10:8He that digs a pit, shall fall into it,and he that breaks the hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
10:9He that removes stones, shall hurt himself by it, and he that cuts wood, shall be in danger by it.
10:10If the iron be blunt,and one has not whet the edge, he must then put to more strength:but the excellency to direct a thing is wisdom.
10:11If the serpent bite, when he is not charmed:no better is a babbler.
10:12The words of the mouth of a wise man have grace:but the lips of a fool devour himself.
10:13The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,and the latter end of his mouth is wicked madness.
10:14For the fool multiplies words, saying, Man knows not what shall be:and who can tell him what shall be after him?
10:15The labor of the foolish does weary him:for he knows not to go into the city.
10:16Woe to you, O land, when your King is a child,and your princes eat in the morning.
10:17Blessed are you, O land, when your King is the son of nobles,and your princes eat in time,for strength and not for drunkenness.
10:18By slothfulness the roof of the house goes to decay,and by the idleness of the hands the house drops through.
10:19They prepare bread for laughter,and wine comforts the living,but silver answers to all.
10:20Curse not the King, no not in your thought,neither curse the rich in your bed chamber:for the fowl of the heaven shall carry the voice,and that which has wings, shall declare the matter.
Chapter 11
11:1Cast your bread upon the waters:for after many days you shall find it.
11:2Give a portion to seven,and also to eight:for you know not what evil shall be upon the earth.
11:3If the clouds be full, they will pour forth rain upon the earth:and if the tree do fall toward the South, or toward the North, in the place that the tree falls, there it shall be.
11:4He that observes the wind, shall not sow,and he that regards the clouds, shall not reap.
11:5As you know not which is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child:so you know not the work of Elohim that works all.
11:6In the morning sow your seed,and in the evening let not your hand rest:for you know not where shall prosper, this or that, or whether both shall be a like good.
11:7Surely the light is a pleasant thing:and it is a good thing to the eyes to see the sun.
11:8Though a man live many years,and in them all he rejoice, yet he shall remember the days of darkness, because they are many, all that comes is vanity.
11:9Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth:and walk in the ways of your heart,and in the sight of your eyes:but know that for all these things, Elohim will bring you to judgment.
11:10Therefore take away grief out of your heart,and cause evil to depart from your flesh:for childhood and youth are vanity.
Chapter 12
12:1Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years approach, in which you shall say, I have no pleasure in them:
12:2While the sun is not dark, nor the light, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor the clouds return after the rain:
12:3When the keepers of the house shall tremble,and the strong men shall bow themselves,and the grinders shall cease, because they are few,and those who look out by the windows grow dark:
12:4And the doors shall be shut without by the base sound of the grinding,and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird:and all the daughters of singing shall be abased.
12:5Also they shall be afraid of the high thing,and fear shall be in the way,and the almond tree shall flourish,and the grasshopper shall be a burden,and desire shall fail:for man goes to the house of his age,and the mourners go about in the street.
12:6While the silver cord is not lengthened, nor the golden ewer broken, nor the pitcher broken at the well, nor the wheel broken at the cistern:
12:7And dust return to the earth as it was,and the spirit return to Elohim that gave it.
12:8Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, all is vanity.
12:9And the more wise the Preacher was, the more he taught the people knowledge,and caused them to hear,and searched forth,and prepared many parables.
12:10The Preacher sought to find out pleasant words,and an upright writing, even the words of truth.
12:11The words of the wise are like goads,and like nails fastened by the masters of the assemblies, which are given by one pastor.
12:12And of other things beside these, my son, take you heed:for there is no end in making many books,and much reading is a weariness of the flesh.
12:13Let us hear the end of all:fear Elohim and keep his commandments:for this is the whole duty of man.
12:14For Elohim will bring every work to judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil.