Ecclesiastes

I have turned all these things over in my heart, so that I might understand carefully. There are just men and wise men, and their works are in the hand of God. And yet, a man does not know so much as whether he is worthy of love or hatred.

But all things are kept uncertain for the future, because all things happen equally to the just and to the impious, to the good and to the evil, to the unclean and to the clean, to those offering victims and to those who despise sacrifices. So also is the good like the sinner; the perjurer is like the one who swears truthfully.

This is a very great affliction among all things that are done under the sun, because the same things happen to everyone. And as a result, the hearts of the sons of men are filled with malice and contempt in their lives, and finally they will be handed over to the things of the future.

There is no one who lives always, who holds to this confidence. Better is a living dog than a dead lion.

For the living know that they will die; the dead know nothing anymore; neither do they have any recompense; for their memory is forgotten.

Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, all have perished; neither do they have any part in this age, and in the work that is done under the sun.

So then, go, eat your bread with rejoicing, and drink your wine with gladness. For your works are pleasing to God.

At all times, let your garments be white, and do not let oil be absent from your head.

Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your unsettled life, which have been given to you under the sun, during the time of your vanity. For this is your portion in life, and in your labor, with which you have labored under the sun.

Whatever your hand is able to do, do it earnestly. For neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge will exist in death, where you are hurrying.

I turned myself toward another thing, and I saw that under the sun, neither the race is for the swift, nor the battle is for the strong, nor bread is for the wise, nor wealth is for the learned, nor favor is for the skillful, but all things are subject to time and chance.

A man does not know his own end. But, like fish are caught with a hook, and like birds are snared with a trap, so are humans seized in the evil time, when it will suddenly overwhelm them.

This wisdom, likewise, I saw under the sun, and I examined it greatly.

There was a small city, with a few men in it. There came against it a great king, who surrounded it and built fortifications all around it, and the siege was nearly complete.

Now there was found within it, a poor and wise man, and he freed the city through his wisdom, and afterwards, no one recalled that poor man.

And so, I declared that wisdom is better than strength. But how is it, then, that the wisdom of a poor man is treated with contempt, and his words are not heeded?

The words of the wise are heard in silence, more than the outcry of a prince among fools.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war. And if one should sin against wisdom, he will destroy many good things.