Approaching God with Awe

¹Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

²Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.

³As a dream comes through many cares,so the speech of a fool comes with many words.

⁴When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

⁵It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

⁶Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messengerthat your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.

The Futility of Wealth

⁸If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

⁹The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

¹⁰He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

¹¹When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?

¹²The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

¹³There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

¹⁴or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.

¹⁵As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

¹⁶This too is a grievous affliction: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

¹⁷Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

¹⁸Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

¹⁹Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

²⁰For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

The Futility of Pleasure

¹I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!”But it proved to be futile.

²I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

³I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

⁴I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

⁵I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees.

⁷I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me,

⁸and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.

⁹So I became great and surpassed all in Jerusalem who had preceded me; and my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

¹¹Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

The Wise and the Foolish

¹²Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?

¹³And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:

¹⁴The wise man has eyes in his head,but the fool walks in darkness.Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

¹⁵So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?”And I said to myself that this too is futile.

¹⁶For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!

¹⁷So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

The Futility of Work

¹⁸I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

²⁰So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.

²¹When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

²²For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?

²³Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

²⁴Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

²⁵For apart from Him,who can eat and who can find enjoyment?

²⁶To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Everything Is Futile

¹These are the words of the Teacher,the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

²“Futilityof futilities,”says the Teacher,“futility of futilities!Everything is futile!”

³What does a man gain from all his labor,at which he toils under the sun?

⁴Generations come and generations go,but the earth remains forever.

⁵The sun rises and the sun sets;it hurries back to where it rises.

⁶The wind blows southward,then turns northward;round and round it swirls,ever returning on its course.

⁷All the rivers flow into the sea,yet the sea is never full;to the place from which the streams come,there again they flow.

⁸All things are wearisome,more than one can describe;the eye is not satisfied with seeing,nor the ear content with hearing.

⁹What has been will be again,and what has been done will be done again;there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a case where one can say,“Look, this is new”?It has already existedin the ages before us.

¹¹There is no remembranceof those who came before,and those yet to come will not be rememberedby those who follow after.

With Wisdom Comes Sorrow

¹²I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a miserable task God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened,and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow,and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

The Evanescence of Wealth

¹Hear this, all you peoples;listen, all inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high,rich and poor alike.

³My mouth will impart wisdom,and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb;I will express my riddle with the harp:

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble,when wicked usurpers surround me?

⁶They trust in their wealthand boast in their great riches.

⁷No man can possibly redeem his brotheror pay his ransom to God.

⁸For the redemption of his soul is costly,and never can payment suffice,

⁹that he should live on foreverand not see decay.

¹⁰For it is clear that wise men die,and the foolish and the senseless both perishand leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their gravesare their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.

¹²But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure;he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of the foolishand their followers who endorse their sayings.Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are destined for Sheol.Death will be their shepherd.The upright will rule them in the morning,and their form will decay in Sheol,far from their lofty abode.

¹⁵But God will redeem my life from Sheol,for He will surely take me to Himself.Selah

¹⁶Do not be afraid when a man grows rich,when the splendor of his house increases.

¹⁷For when he dies, he will carry nothing away;his abundance will not follow him down.

¹⁸Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper—

¹⁹he will join the generation of his fathers,who will never see the light of day.

²⁰A man who has riches without understandingis like the beasts that perish.