All Is Vanity

¹The words of athe Preacher,1 the son of David, bking in Jerusalem.

²cVanity2 of vanities, says athe Preacher,

cvanity of vanities! dAll is vanity.

³eWhat fdoes man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

⁴A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but gthe earth remains forever.

⁵hThe sun rises, and the sun goes down,

and hastens3 to the place where it rises.

⁶iThe wind blows to the south

and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

⁷All jstreams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

⁸All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

kthe eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹lWhat has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has been malready

in the ages before us.

¹¹There is no nremembrance of former things,4

nor will there be any remembrance

of later things5 yet to be

among those who come after.

The Vanity of Wisdom

¹²I othe Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³And I papplied my heart6 to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy qbusiness that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹⁴I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is rvanity7 and a striving after wind.8

¹⁵sWhat is crooked cannot be made straight,

and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said in my heart, “I have acquired great twisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷And I uapplied my heart to know wisdom and to know vmadness and folly. I perceived that this also is but ra striving after wind.

¹⁸For win much wisdom is much vexation,

and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

¹I xsaid in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.1 ²I ysaid of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” ³I zsearched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on afolly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. ⁴I made great works. I bbuilt houses and planted cvineyards for myself. ⁵I made myself dgardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. ⁷I bought male and female slaves, and had eslaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of fherds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. ⁸I also gathered for myself silver and ggold and the treasure of hkings and iprovinces. I got jsingers, both men and women, and many kconcubines,2 the delight of the sons of man.

⁹So I became great and lsurpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my lwisdom remained with me. ¹⁰And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart mfound pleasure in all my toil, and this was my nreward for all my toil. ¹¹Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was ovanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing pto be gained under the sun.

The Vanity of Living Wisely

¹²qSo I turned to consider rwisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only swhat has already been done. ¹³Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. ¹⁴tThe wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the usame event happens to all of them. ¹⁵Then I said in my heart, v“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. ¹⁶For of the wise as of the fool there is wno enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. xHow the wise dies just like the fool! ¹⁷So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for oall is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

¹⁸I hated yall my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must zleave it to the man who will come after me, ¹⁹and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰So I aturned about and gave my heart up to despair bover all the toil of my labors under the sun, ²¹because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²²What has a man from call the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? ²³For dall his days are full of sorrow, and his ework is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

²⁴fThere is nothing better for a person than that he should geat and drink and find enjoyment3 in his toil. This also, I saw, is hfrom the hand of God, ²⁵for apart from him4 who can eat or who can have enjoyment? ²⁶For to the one who pleases him iGod has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given ethe business of gathering and collecting, jonly to give to one who pleases God. kThis also is vanity and a striving after wind.

A Time for Everything

¹For everything there is a season, and la time for every matter under heaven:

²a time to be born, and a time to mdie;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

³a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴a time to nweep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to odance;

⁵a time to pcast away stones, and a time to qgather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to rrefrain from embracing;

⁶a time to seek, and a time to slose;

a time to keep, and a time to tcast away;

⁷a time to utear, and a time to sew;

a time to vkeep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸a time to love, and a time to whate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

The God-Given Task

⁹What xgain has the worker from his toil? ¹⁰I have seen ythe business that zGod has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹He has amade everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot bfind out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹²I perceived that there is cnothing better for them than to be joyful and to ddo good as long as they live; ¹³also ethat everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is fGod's gift to man.

¹⁴I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; gnothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. ¹⁵That which is, halready has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God iseeks what has been driven away.1

From Dust to Dust

¹⁶Moreover, jI saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even kthere was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. ¹⁷I said in my heart, lGod will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is ma time for every matter and for every work. ¹⁸I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but nbeasts. ¹⁹oFor what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.2 ²⁰All go to one place. All are from pthe dust, and to dust all return. ²¹Who knows whether qthe spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? ²²So I saw that there is rnothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for sthat is his lot. Who can bring him to see twhat will be after him?

Evil Under the Sun

¹uAgain I vsaw all wthe oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had xno one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. ²And I ythought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. ³But zbetter than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

⁴Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is avanity1 and a striving after wind.

⁵The fool bfolds his hands and ceats his own flesh.

⁶dBetter is a handful of equietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

⁷uAgain, I saw vanity under the sun: ⁸one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his feyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, g“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy hbusiness.

⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, ibut how can one keep warm alone? ¹²And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³Better was ja poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how kto take advice. ¹⁴For he went lfrom prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. ¹⁵I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that2 youth who was to stand in the king's3 place. ¹⁶There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is mvanity and a striving after wind.

Fear God

¹1 nGuard your steps when you go to othe house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to poffer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. ²2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore qlet your words be few. ³For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with rmany words.

⁴When syou vow a vow to God, tdo not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. uPay what you vow. ⁵vIt is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. ⁶Let not your mouth lead you3 into sin, and do not say before wthe messenger4 that it was xa mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity;5 but6 yGod is the one you must fear.

The Vanity of Wealth and Honor

⁸zIf you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, ado not be amazed at the matter, bfor the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. ⁹But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.7

¹⁰He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. ¹¹When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? ¹²Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

¹³cThere is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, ¹⁴and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. ¹⁵dAs he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. ¹⁶This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what egain is there to him who ftoils for the wind? ¹⁷Moreover, all his days he geats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

¹⁸Behold, what I have seen to be hgood and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment8 in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his ilot. ¹⁹Everyone also to whom jGod has given kwealth and possessions land power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is mthe gift of God. ²⁰For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.