Fear God

5 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. 2 ¹ 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. 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with ^rmany words.

4 When ^syou vow a vow to God, ^tdo not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. ^uPay what you vow. 5 ^vIt is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you² into sin, and do not say before ^wthe messenger³ that it was ^xa mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity;⁴ but^{5 y}God is the one you must fear.

The Vanity of Wealth and Honor

8 ^zIf 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. 9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.⁶

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

13 ^cThere is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 ^dAs 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. 16 This 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? 17 Moreover, all his days he ^geats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

18 Behold, what I have seen to be ^hgood and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment⁷ 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. 19 Everyone 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. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

6 ⁿThere is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2 a man ^oto whom ^pGod gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he ^qlacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God ^rdoes not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity;¹ it is a grievous evil. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that ^sthe days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s ^tgood things, and he also has no ^uburial, I say that ^va stillborn child is better off than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not ^wseen the sun or known anything, yet it finds ^xrest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy² no good—do not all go to the one place?

7 ^yAll the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.³ 8 For what advantage has the wise man ^zover the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? 9 Better ^ais the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is ^bvanity and a striving after wind.

10 Whatever has come to be has ^calready been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to ^ddispute with one stronger than he. 11 The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? 12 For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his ^evain⁴ life, which he passes like ^fa shadow? For who can tell man what will be ^gafter him under the sun?

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

14 ^yIn the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, ^zso that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

15 In my ^avain³ life I have seen everything. There is ^ba righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who ^cprolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not ^dmake yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. ^eWhy should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of ^fthis, and from ^gthat ^hwithhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

19 ⁱWisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20 Surely ^jthere is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear ^kyour servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that ^lmany times you yourself have cursed others.

23 All this I have tested by wisdom. ^mI said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and ⁿdeep, very deep; ^owho can find it out?

25 ^pI turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more ^qbitter than death: ^rthe woman whose heart is ^ssnares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but ^tthe sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says ^uthe Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. ^vOne man among a thousand I found, but ^wa woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that ^xGod made man upright, but ^ythey have sought out many schemes.

Keep the King’s Command

2 I say:¹ Keep the king’s command, because of ^bGod’s oath to him.² 3 Be not hasty to ^cgo from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and ^dwho may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.³ 6 For there is a time and a way ^efor everything, although man’s trouble⁴ lies heavy on him. 7 For he ^fdoes not know what is to be, for ^gwho can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to ^hretain the spirit, ⁱor power over the day of death. There is no ^jdischarge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 ^kAll this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

Those Who Fear God Will Do Well

10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of ^lthe holy place and were ^mpraised⁵ in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.⁶ 11 Because ⁿthe sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, ^othe heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and ^pprolongs his life, yet I know that ^qit will be well with ^rthose who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will ^snot be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like ^ta shadow, because he does not fear before God.

Man Cannot Know God’s Ways

14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people ^uto whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people ^vto whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man ^whas nothing better under the sun but to ^xeat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see ^ythe business that is done on earth, how neither ^zday nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that ^aman cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, ^bhe cannot find it out.

Death Comes to All

9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, ^chow the righteous and the wise and their deeds are ^din the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 ^eIt is the same for all, since ^fthe same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,¹ to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who ^gswears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that ^ethe same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and ^hmadness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but ⁱthe dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for ^jthe memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

7 Go, ^keat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

8 ^lLet your garments be always white. Let not ^moil be lacking on your head.

9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your ⁿvain² life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your ^oportion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, ^pdo it with your might,^{3 q}for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Wisdom Better Than Folly

11 ^rAgain I saw that under the sun ^sthe race is not to the swift, nor ^tthe battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and ^uchance ^vhappen to them all. 12 For man ^wdoes not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and ^xlike birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are ^ysnared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it ^za poor, wise man, and he by his ^awisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that ^bwisdom is better than might, though ^cthe poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

17 The words of the wise heard in ^dquiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 ^eWisdom is better than weapons of war, but ^fone sinner destroys much good.