ECCLESIASTES
§ Vanity of vanities¤1 °1 Here are the words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: °2 All is meaningless – says the Teacher – meaningless, meaningless! °3 What profit is there for a man in all his work for which he toils under the sun? °4 A generation goes, a generation comes and the earth remains forever. °5 The sun rises, the sun sets, hastening towards the place where it again rises. °6 Blowing to the south, turning to the north, the wind goes round and round and after all its rounds it has to blow again. °7 All rivers go to the sea but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers come from, there they return again. °8 All words become weary and speech comes to an end, but the eye has never seen enough nor the ear heard too much. °9 What has happened before will happen again; what has been done before will be done again: there is nothing new under the sun. °10 If they say to you, “See, it’s new!” know that it has already been centuries earlier. °11 There is no remembrance of ancient people, and those to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. § Even wisdom is meaningless°12 I, the teacher, have been king of Israel in Jerusalem. °13 I set my heart on studying and examining critically all that is done under heaven. °14 It is a burdensome task which God has given to the humans! I have seen everything that is done under the sun, but all is meaningless: it is chasing the wind. °15 What is bent cannot be straightened; what is not will not come to be. °16 I thought to myself, “See, I have increased and promoted wisdom more than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me and I have experienced to the full both wisdom and knowledge.” °17 I set my heart on comparing wisdom with foolishness and stupidity, and I discovered that this also is chasing the wind. °18 For the wiser you are, the more worries you have, and the more you learn, the more you suffer. § Empty pleasures¤2 °1 I said in my heart, “I will try pleasure! taste happiness!” But I found that was useless. °2 Laughter is foolishness! As for pleasure, what good is it? °3 I thought of cheering my body with wine while my heart searched for wisdom. So I gave myself to folly in order to find out what would be good for man to do under the sun throughout his life. °4 I did great things: I built houses and planted vineyards. °5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees. °6 I constructed reservoirs to irrigate the orchards. °7 I bought slaves and servants and had slaves born in my household. I had flocks and herds in abundance more than anyone before me in Jerusalem. °8 I acquired silver and gold – the wealth of kings and nations. I had choirmaster and singers and besides that, what most delights men. °9 I became great, surpassing all my predecessors in Jerusalem without losing wisdom. °10 I refused myself nothing that my eyes desired nor did I deprive my heart of any pleasure. I enjoyed all I undertook and that was my reward for my work. °11 Then I considered all I had achieved by my work and all the toil it had entailed and found that it was all meaningless and chasing wind. There is no profit under the sun. °12 I then decided to compare wisdom with folly and madness and I thought, “What will my successor as king do?” (We know what he did!) °13 I understood that wisdom is more profitable than folly, just as light is better than darkness: °14 The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in darkness. But it dawned on me that the same fate overtakes them both. °15 And I thought, “If the fate of the fool will be mine as well, what did my wisdom profit me?” I thought to myself that, too, is meaningless. °16 There is no more remembrance of the wise man than of the fool: both will be forgotten in the days to come. Why is a wise man’s death like that of a fool? °17 So I hated life seeing the wrong in everything that is done under the sun: all is meaningless and chasing wind. °18 I hated all I had labored for under the sun and which I must leave to my successor. °19 Who knows whether he will be foolish or wise? Yet he will be master of all °20 I have achieved by my own efforts and wisdom: that too is meaningless. And I began to despair in my heart over all my labor under the sun. °21 For here was a man who toiled in all wisdom, knowledge and skill and he must leave all to someone who has not worked for it. This is meaningless and a great misfortune. °22 For what profit is there for a man in all his work and heart-searching under the sun? °23 All his days bring sorrow, his work grief; he hasn’t, moreover, peaceful rest at night: that too is meaningless. °24 There is nothing better for man to do than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. I understood that this too comes from the hand of God. °25 For without him who can eat or find enjoyment? °26 To the one who pleases him, he gives wisdom, knowledge and joy, while to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up what will be given to another who pleases God: this too is meaningless and chasing wind. § A time for everything
¤3 °1 There is a given time for everything and a time for every happening under heaven: °2 A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting. °3 A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building. °4 A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing. °5 A time for throwing stones, a time for gathering stones; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing. °6 A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for throwing away. °7 A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time to be silent and a time to speak. °8 A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace. °9 What profit is there for a man from all his toils? °10 Finally I considered the task God gave to the humans. °11 He made everything fitting in its time, but he also set eternity in their hearts, although man is not able to embrace the work of God from the beginning to the end. °12 I know that there is nothing better for him to do than to seek pleasure and well-being during his life. °13 To eat, drink and find satisfaction in his work is a gift from God. °14 I know that everything God does remains forever; there is nothing to add, nothing to take from it. Yet God has ordained that humans fear him. °15 What has happened comes again; what is now has already been; God recovers what has gone. °16 I have also seen under the sun, instead of justice, wickedness, and in the place of the just, the wicked. °17 And I said to myself, “God will judge the just and the wicked for there is a time for everything, and a judgment for every deed.” °18 I also thought about them, how God wants to test them and let them see that they themselves are animals. °19 For the destiny of man and animal is identical: death for one as for the other. °20 Both have the same spirit; man has no superiority over animals for all pass away like wind. Both go to the same place, both come from dust and return to dust. °21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the beast descends earthward? °22 I understood that the best man can do is to be happy in what he does, for that is his lot. For who will take him to see the beyond? ¤4 °1 I
considered also how much oppression there is under the sun: the tears of the
oppressed and no one to console them, the violence of the oppressors and no
one to hold them back. °2 More fortunate are the dead for being dead, than the
living who have to live, °3 and even more fortunate than both is the
one not yet born who has not seen the abuses under the sun. °4 I saw that all that is done, all that succeeds,
results from rivalry with the neighbor: all is meaningless and chasing the
wind. °5 The fool folds his arms and eats his meat. °6 Yet better half a fistful of rest than fistfuls of
toil and chasing the wind. °7 I saw another senseless thing under the sun: °8 a man alone, without son or brother, working
endlessly, his greed never satisfied with wealth: “For whom do I work and
deprive myself of pleasure?” This, too, is nonsense and mistaken investment. °9 Happier two than one alone, for their work brings a
higher salary, °10 and when one falls the other lifts up his
companion. Unfortunate he who is alone and has no one to lift him up. °11 Moreover it’s warmer with two in bed; how can one
alone be warm? °12 One person may be overcome by an
aggressor, but two can easily oppose him; triple-stranded thread is not
easily broken. °13 Better a youth who is poor and wise than a fool of
an old king who shuns advice. °14 He may even pass from prison to the
throne, though born poor in his kingdom. °15 I saw
all who live under the sun follow the youth who replaced the latter and there
was no end to the people who sided with him. °16 And
yet those who will come after will not be satisfied. This too makes no sense;
it’s nothing but chasing wind. § Wise sayings°17 Watch your step when you go to God’s house; it’s a
better offering to listen, than to present sacrifices as do the fools; for
they do not know the evil they do. ¤5 °1 Don’t
be impulsive and hasty with words in the presence of God, for God is in
heaven and you are on earth. For that reason let your words be few. °2 For dreams come from over-anxiety and foolish talk
from too many words. °3 When you make a vow to God, waste no time in
fulfilling it, for he takes no pleasure in fools. Do what you vowed. °4 Better not to make a vow than to fail to fulfill it. °5 Don’t let your speech cause you to sin, and then
tell God’s minister it was a mistake. Why anger God by what you say and
destroy the work of your hands? From much dreaming and many words comes
emptiness. °6 So fear God. °7 If you see the poor oppressed, right and justice
denied in the province, do not be surprised, for over a high-placed official
a higher one watches, and over both of these a still higher one watches. °8 The produce of the land benefits everyone and the
king serves the land. °9 Whoever loves money will not be satisfied with
money. Whoever loves wealth hasn’t sufficient income. This is senseless. °10 When there is abundance of good things there is
abundance of consumers. What profit is there for the owner except to look on? °11 Sweet the sleep of the laborer, whether he eats
little or much. But the rich man who has had his fill cannot sleep. °12 There is a great evil that I found under the sun,
the rich man who kept his wealth to his own harm. °13 A
mistaken investment and these riches are lost; a son is born but there is
nothing to leave him. °14 Naked he came from his mother’s womb, he returns as
he came – naked. Nothing of the fruit of his toil is he able to take with
him. °15 That, too, is a grievous evil: As he came, so he
goes. So what did he gain from chasing the wind? °16 Why
did he eat in darkness all through his life, amidst great sorrow, suffering
and vexation? °17 This is what I saw as most fitting for man: to eat,
drink and be happy in all the work he does under the sun during the days God
grants him; this is his reward. °18
And when God gives a
man riches and property with the possibility of enjoying them and being happy
in his work, this is a gift from God. °19 As
long as God keeps him occupied in the gladness of his heart, he is not
concerned about how long he will live. ¤6 °1 There
is another very evil thing which I saw under the sun: a man has riches,
property, honor, and lacks nothing he could desire, °2 yet God does not permit him to benefit from them; a
stranger has the enjoyment. That is nonsense and a grievous hurt. °3 What if a man had a hundred sons and lived many
years but without tasting happiness and even without a tomb! More fortunate,
I would say, the one untimely-born. °4 For he
came in vain and goes to darkness and in darkness will his name be hidden. °5 He has not seen the sun and has not known it.
Finally he has had more rest than that man. °6 Even if
he should live a thousand years twice over, but without tasting happiness; do
not both go to the same place? °7 Man works to fill his stomach, yet he himself is not
satisfied. °8 Has the wise man more than the fool? What is the
benefit of wisdom to one overwhelmed by poverty? °9 What the eye sees seems better than what the heart
desires. That, too, is senseless and chasing wind. °10 Everything has already been evaluated. One knows
what man is and that he cannot dispute with the one stronger than himself. °11 Many words, much emptiness; what does it profit? °12 Who knows what is the good way of life for man,
during the days of his meaningless life which pass like a shadow? Who will
let him know what will happen after he has gone? ¤7 °1 An
honorable name is better than perfumed oil. Better the day of death than the
day of birth. °2 Better to go to a house of mourning than to a house
of feasting, for to this end all come, and let the living take this to heart:
°3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad face
brings healing to the soul. °4 The heart of the wise is in the house of
mourning, while the heart of the fool is in the house of feasting. °5 Better to heed the rebuke of a wise than to listen
to a fool’s song. °6 Like the crackling of thorns under a pot
is the fool’s laugh. °7 Corruption makes a wise man mad, bribe blinds his
heart. °8 Better to reach the end than to begin. Better
patience than a haughty spirit. °9 Don’t be easily dejected, for dejection resides in
the womb of fools. °10 Do not ask why former times were better than the
present. It is not wisdom that prompts such a question. °11 Wisdom is as precious as an inheritance; it is a
blessing for those on whom the sun shines. °12 If
wisdom protects you, money will do the same. This is the benefit of acquiring
wisdom: it makes its owner live. °13 See the work of God. Who can straighten what he has
bent? °14 Be happy in the day of prosperity and in
the day of sorrow reflect: °15 God has given both one and the other and many
may discover what comes later. °16 Do not be over-righteous or excessively wise, lest
you harm yourself. °17 Do not be too wicked or too stupid, lest
you die before your time. °18 It is well to hold to one and not to loosen your
grasp on the other. The God-fearing man copes with both. °19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise more than ten
rulers in the city. °20 There is no righteous man on earth who
always does good and never sins. °21 Don’t take seriously all that you hear, lest you
hear your servant speak ill of you. °22 You
know well how many times you have spoken ill of others! °23 After having examined all this critically I said, “I
will be wise!” °24 But how far it is from me! more remote
than anything, and deep, very deep. Who could discover it? °25 I set myself in all earnestness to know, study and
pursue wisdom and reason, so I saw that wickedness is folly, and foolishness,
stupidity. °26 I find woman more bitter than death. She is a
pitfall; her heart is a snare and her arms, chains. He who pleases God will
escape from her, but the sinner will be caught. °27 See what I discovered – says the Teacher – after
considering them one after another, anxious to understand. °28 I have been searching but have not yet found; for a
man among a thousand I may find, but not a woman among all of them. °29 See what I discovered: God made man simple, but they
get lost in their many thoughts. ¤8 °1 Who is
like the wise man? Who else can solve a problem? A man’s wisdom lights up his
expression – his stern look is changed. °2 Obey the command of the king because of the oath
before God and °3 don’t be eager to ignore it. Do not
stubbornly support a bad cause, for he will do what he pleases. °4 The king’s word holds. Who will say to him, “What
are you doing?” °5 Whoever obeys a royal precept avoids trouble. The
wise man knows the time and the judgment – °6 the
time to act and the value of everything. This
misfortune weighs heavily on man: °7
he has no knowledge
of what will happen. Who can tell him what will happen? °8 No one controls the wind or holds back the day of
death. Struggle is useless and not even wickedness saves its author. °9 I have observed this and set myself to consider
everything that is done under the sun, when man is given the power of harming
another. °10 And so I have seen the wicked buried and people come
from the holy place to honor them, forgetting how they acted. This, too, is
futile. °11 It is because sentence against wrongdoing is not
passed at once that evil designs fill the human heart. °12 The sinner may do wrong a hundred times and yet
survive. (I
know well that there will be happiness for the God-fearing man because he
fears God, °13 but there will be no happiness for the
wicked; and because he doesn’t fear God, he will pass like a shadow and his
days will not last.) °14 Another kind of nonsense is found in what humans do
on earth: the righteous are treated as the wicked deserve, and the wicked, as
the righteous deserve. This, too, is meaningless. °15 So I praise joy, since for man there is no happiness
under the sun other than eating, drinking and taking pleasure in his work
throughout the life God gives him under the sun. °16 When I
set out to get wisdom and considered the human condition on earth, by day or
by night when people sleep and are not conscious, °17 I saw
that with regard to God’s work, as a whole, no man is able to discover what
the work is that goes on under the sun; though he tire himself searching, he
will not find out. And if the wise man claims to know, he does not. ¤9 °1 I have
pondered on all this and now I understand that the just, the wise and all
they do are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether hate or love is in
store for him. °2 What is most senseless is that the same
destiny awaits all, the virtuous and the wicked, the clean and the unclean,
the one who sacrifices and the one who doesn’t. It is then the same for the
good man and the sinner, for the one who swears and the one who refrains from
swearing. °3 The same fate comes to all: this is the evil which
corrupts all that is done under the sun. This is why man’s heart is full of
evil and foolishness during his life and his end is with the dead. °4 As long as he shares with the living there is hope,
a live dog being better than a dead lion. °5 The
living at least know they will die but the dead know nothing; neither do they
await anything; the memory of them has vanished. °6 Their
love, hate and jealousy have already perished and they no longer have a share
in all that is done under the sun. °7 Go, eat your bread with gladness and drink your wine
joyfully; this is God’s approval of your work. °8 Dress
in white and perfume your head. °9 Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of
the meaningless life given you by God under the sun, for this is your lot in
life and in the work you do under the sun. °10 Fulfill your projects while you are able, for among
the dead where you are going there is no work, no planning, no knowledge, no
wisdom. °11 I saw something else under the sun: the race is not
won by the swift, nor the battle by the strong, nor does bread go to the wise
nor riches to the intelligent; favor is not for the learned, for fortune and
misfortune overtake them all. °12 For man is not aware of his time: just as fish are
caught in the treacherous net and sparrows trapped in the snare, man, like
them, is caught by misfortune suddenly befalling him. § More proverbs°13 I have considered something else very grave under
the sun. °14 There was a small town with few
inhabitants. A king set out to attack it, laid siege to it and built great
siege-works around it. °15 But a poverty-stricken wise man was
found, who by his wisdom saved the town. No one, however, remembered the poor
man. °16 So I said, “Better wisdom than heroism,”
but the wisdom of the poor is despised and his words are not heeded. °17 The words of the wise spoken calmly are heard above
the shouts of a ruler of fools. °18 Wisdom is better than weapons; one sinner spoils
much happiness. ¤10 °1 As dead
flies spoil a jar of perfumed oil, a little folly weighs heavier than wisdom
and honor. °2 The heart of the wise man leads him to the right,
the heart of the fool leads him to the left. °3 When the fool is on the road, he goes the wrong way
and to all he meets he says, “There goes another fool.” °4 If the ruler gets angry with you, do not stir, for
composure prevents many grave mistakes. °5 An evil I discovered under the sun, an error of
rulers: °6 folly is exalted to the heights while
rich men take the lowest places. °7
I have seen slaves
riding on horses, princes going on foot like slaves. °8 He who digs a pit may fall into it and he who
pierces a wall may be bitten by a serpent; °9 he who quarries stones may be hurt by them and he
who splits logs may be wounded; °10 if the axe is blunt and the edge not sharpened, you
must strike stronger blows, in all this gain with wisdom. °11 But if the serpent doesn’t allow itself to be
charmed and bites, what did the charmer gain? °12 The words from the lips of a wise man are gracious
but the lips of a fool bring about his own ruin. °13 Folly
marks the beginning of his speech and pure madness, the end. °14 Let him multiply his words! (Man does not know what
will happen and who will let him know what comes after him?) °15 Any work wearies the fool; he doesn’t even know the
way to go to town. °16 Alas for you, O land! if your ruler is a young man
whose princes feast in the morning. °17 Happy
the land where the king is nobly born and where the princes eat at
appropriate times, as fitting to people, rather than being drunk. °18 Laziness in man causes a ceiling to sag and because
of a man’s slackness a house leaks. °19 Man prepares a meal for pleasure; wine gives cheer
to life while money is the answer to everything. °20 Even in your mind do not curse the king and in your
bedroom do not curse the rich, for the birds of the air may tell what you say
and winged carriers will make it known. ¤11 °1 Cast
your bread on the water for after a given time you will find it again. °2 Share with seven or even with eight for you never
know what misfortune may strike the earth. °3 When clouds are heavy, rain falls on the earth and
when a tree falls facing south or north there in that place it will lie. °4 He who watches the wind will not sow and he who
watches the clouds will not reap. °5 Just as you do not know how the spirit pervades the
members in the mother’s womb, neither will you understand the work of God,
creator of all things. °6 Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle
until the evening for you don’t know whether one or the other will succeed.
What if both prove to be good? § So man goes forward to his eternal home°7 Light is pleasant and it is good for the eyes to see the sun. °8 If a man lives for many years, let him rejoice in them all, thinking that dark days will be many and all that comes after will be meaningless. °9 Rejoice, young man, in your youth and direct well your heart when you are young; follow your desires and achieve your ambitions but recall that God will take account of all you do. °10 Drive sorrow from your heart and pain from your flesh, for youth and dark hair will not last. ¤12 °1 Be mindful of your Creator when you are young, before the time of sorrow comes when you have to say, “This gives me no pleasure,” °2 and before the sun, moon and stars withdraw their light, before the clouds gather again after the rain. °3 On the day when the guardians of the house tremble, when sturdy men are bowed and those at the mill stop working because they are too few, when it grows dim for those looking through the windows, °4 and the doors are shut and the noise of the mill grows faint, the sparrow stops chirping and the bird-song is silenced, °5 when one fears the slopes and to walk is frightening; yet the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is fat and the caperberry bears fruit that serves no purpose, because man goes forward to his eternal home and mourners gather in the street, °6 even before the silver chain is snapped or the golden globe is shattered, before the pitcher is broken at the fountain or the wheel at the mill, °7 before the dust returns to the earth from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it. °8 Meaningless! meaningless! the Teacher says; all is meaningless! °9 Besides being a wise man Qoheleth taught the people;
he listened, studied and classified a great number of proverbs. °10 Qoheleth tried to write in a pleasant style and
express frankly words of truth. °11 The words of the wise are spurs, their collected
sayings are like a fence whose many pegs have been assembled by one shepherd. °12 Beware, my son, of searching beyond. Writing many
books would be useless, and intense study wearies the body. °13 Conclusion: fear God and obey his precepts; for man depends entirely on this. °14 God brings every deed to judgment, all that is hidden, be it good or bad. The End. |