Ecclesiastes 1:8-18

⁸ All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.

⁹ What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰ Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.

¹¹ There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.

¹² I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! ¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

¹⁵ What is twisted cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶ I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." ¹⁷ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸ For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 2:12-26

¹² Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king's successor do
than what has already been done?

¹³ I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man has eyes in his head,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.

¹⁵ Then I thought in my heart,
"The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?"
I said in my heart,
"This too is meaningless."

¹⁶ For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
in days to come both will be forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise man too must die!

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

²⁴ A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 3:9-11

⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on men. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 4:1-8

¹ Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.

² And I declared that the dead,
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.

³ But better than both
is he who has not yet been,
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.

⁴ And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

⁵ The fool folds his hands
and ruins himself.

⁶ Better one handful with tranquillity
than two handfuls with toil
and chasing after the wind.

⁷ Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:

⁸ There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
"For whom am I toiling," he asked,
"and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?"
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 5:1-17

¹ Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

² Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.

³ As a dream comes when there are many cares,
so the speech of a fool when there are many words.

⁴ When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. ⁵ It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. ⁶ Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷ Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.

⁸ If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. ⁹ The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

¹⁰ Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.

¹¹ As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them?

¹² The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether he eats little or much,
but the abundance of a rich man
permits him no sleep.

¹³ I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

¹⁴ or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when he has a son
there is nothing left for him.

¹⁵ Naked a man comes from his mother's womb,
and as he comes, so he departs.
He takes nothing from his labor
that he can carry in his hand.

¹⁶ This too is a grievous evil:
As a man comes, so he departs,
and what does he gain,
since he toils for the wind?

¹⁷ All his days he eats in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 6:1-12

¹ I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: ² God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

³ A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴ It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. ⁵ Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man- ⁶ even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

⁷ All man's efforts are for his mouth,
yet his appetite is never satisfied.

⁸ What advantage has a wise man
over a fool?
What does a poor man gain
by knowing how to conduct himself before others?

⁹ Better what the eye sees
than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
a chasing after the wind.

¹⁰ Whatever exists has already been named,
and what man is has been known;
no man can contend
with one who is stronger than he.

¹¹ The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?

¹² For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 7:15-22

¹⁵ In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
a righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

¹⁶ Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?

¹⁷ Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?

¹⁸ It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes .

¹⁹ Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰ There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins.

²¹ Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you may hear your servant cursing you-

²² for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 7:29-8:1

²⁹ This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes."

¹ Who is like the wise man?
Who knows the explanation of things?
Wisdom brightens a man's face
and changes its hard appearance.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 8:16-9:6

¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor on earth—his eyes not seeing sleep day or night- ¹⁷ then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.

¹ So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. ² All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good man,
so with the sinner;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.

³ This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. ⁴ Anyone who is among the living has hope —even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

⁵ For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even the memory of them is forgotten.

⁶ Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

¹¹ I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

¹² Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 10:1-15

¹ As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

² The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left.

³ Even as he walks along the road,
the fool lacks sense
and shows everyone how stupid he is.

⁴ If a ruler's anger rises against you,
do not leave your post;
calmness can lay great errors to rest.

⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
the sort of error that arises from a ruler:

⁶ Fools are put in many high positions,
while the rich occupy the low ones.

⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback,
while princes go on foot like slaves.

⁸ Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

⁹ Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

¹⁰ If the ax is dull
and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed
but skill will bring success.

¹¹ If a snake bites before it is charmed,
there is no profit for the charmer.

¹² Words from a wise man's mouth are gracious,
but a fool is consumed by his own lips.

¹³ At the beginning his words are folly;
at the end they are wicked madness-

¹⁴ and the fool multiplies words.
No one knows what is coming—
who can tell him what will happen after him?

¹⁵ A fool's work wearies him;
he does not know the way to town.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

¹ Cast your bread upon the waters,
for after many days you will find it again.

² Give portions to seven, yes to eight,
for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

³ If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain upon the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where it falls, there will it lie.

⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

¹ Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
"I find no pleasure in them"-

² before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;

³ when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;

⁴ when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when men rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;

⁵ when men are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags himself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then man goes to his eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.

⁶ Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
or the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
or the wheel broken at the well,

⁷ and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

⁸ "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Everything is meaningless!"

New International Version