9 What ^xgain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen ^ythe business that ^zGod has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He 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. 12 I perceived that there is ^cnothing better for them than to be joyful and to ^ddo good as long as they live; 13 also ^ethat everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is ^fGod’s gift to man.

14 I 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. 15 That which is, ^halready has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God ⁱseeks what has been driven away.¹