1. The Wise and the Foolish

ch7 ¹A good name [is] better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. ² It is] better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that [is] the end of all men; and the living will lay [it] to his heart. ³ Sorrow [is] better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. ⁴ The heart of the wise [is] in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools [is] in the house of mirth.

⁵ It is] better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. ⁶ For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so [is] the laughter of the fool: this also [is] vanity.

⁷ Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. ⁸ Better [is] the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: [and] the patient in spirit [is] better than the proud in spirit. ⁹ Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. ¹⁰Say not thou, What is [the cause] that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.

¹¹Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance: and [by it there is] profit to them that see the sun. ¹²For wisdom [is] a defence, [and] money [is] a defence: but the excellency of knowledge [is, that] wisdom giveth life to them that have it. ¹³Consider the work of God: for who can make [that] straight, which he hath made crooked? ¹⁴In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.




¹⁵All [things] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just [man] that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked [man] that prolongeth [his life] in his wickedness. ¹⁶Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? ¹⁷Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? ¹⁸[It is] good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.




¹⁹Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty [men] which are in the city. ²⁰For [there is] not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. ²¹Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: ²²For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.

²³All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it [was] far from me. ²⁴That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? ²⁵I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason [of things], and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness [and] madness:

²⁶And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart [is] snares and nets, [and] her hands [as] bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. ²⁷Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, [counting] one by one, to find out the account:

²⁸Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. ²⁹Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

ch8 ¹Who [is] as the wise [man]? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed. ² I [counsel thee] to keep the king's commandment, and [that] in regard of the oath of God. ³ Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. ⁴ Where the word of a king [is, there is] power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? ⁵ Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. ⁶ Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him. ⁷ For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be? ⁸ [There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

2. The Wicked and the Righteous

⁹ All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. ¹⁰And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this [is] also vanity.

¹¹Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. ¹²Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his [days] be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: ¹³But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

¹⁴There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just [men], unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also [is] vanity. ¹⁵Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

¹⁶When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also [there is that] neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) ¹⁷Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; yea further; though a wise [man] think to know [it], yet shall he not be able to find [it].

3. All Are in God’s Hands

ch9 ¹For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, [are] in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred [by] all [that is] before them.

² All [things come] alike to all: [there is] one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as [is] the good, so [is] the sinner; [and] he that sweareth, as [he] that feareth an oath. ³ This [is] an evil among all [things] that are done under the sun, that [there is] one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness [is] in their heart while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead. ⁴ For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any [thing] that is done under the sun.

⁷ Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. ⁸ Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. ⁹ Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that [is] thy portion in [this] life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. ¹⁰Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹¹I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. ¹²For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so [are] the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

4. Living Wisely and Counsel to the Young

¹³This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it [seemed] great unto me: ¹⁴[There was] a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: ¹⁵Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. ¹⁶Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard. ¹⁷The words of wise [men are] heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. ¹⁸Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

ch10 ¹Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: [so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honour. ²A wise man's heart [is] at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. ³Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth [him], and he saith to every one [that] he [is] a fool. ⁴If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. ⁵There is an evil [which] I have seen under the sun, as an error [which] proceedeth from the ruler: ⁶Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. ⁷I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. ⁸He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. ⁹Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; [and] he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. ¹⁰If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom [is] profitable to direct. ¹¹Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.

¹²The words of a wise man's mouth [are] gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. ¹³The beginning of the words of his mouth [is] foolishness: and the end of his talk [is] mischievous madness. ¹⁴A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? ¹⁵The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. ¹⁶Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! ¹⁷Blessed [art] thou, O land, when thy king [is] the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! ¹⁸By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. ¹⁹A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all [things]. ²⁰Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

ch11 ¹Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. ²Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. ³If the clouds be full of rain, they empty [themselves] upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. ⁴He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. ⁵As thou knowest not what [is] the way of the spirit, [nor] how the bones [do grow] in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. ⁶In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both [shall be] alike good. ⁷Truly the light [is] sweet, and a pleasant [thing it is] for the eyes to behold the sun: ⁸But if a man live many years, [and] rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh [is] vanity. ⁹Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment. ¹0 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth [are] vanity.

ch12 ¹Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; ²While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: ³In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, ⁴And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; ⁵Also [when] they shall be afraid of [that which is] high, and fears [shall be] in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: ⁶Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. ⁷Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. ⁸Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all [is] vanity. ⁹And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, [and] set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and [that which was] written [was] upright, [even] words of truth. ¹¹The words of the wise [are] as goads, and as nails fastened [by] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from one shepherd. ¹²And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh. ¹³Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. ¹⁴For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.