Ecclesiastes 1-4

Ecclesiastes 1

¹¶ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all [is] vanity.

³What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

⁴¶ [One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

⁵The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

⁶The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

⁷All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

⁸All things [are] full of labour; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹¶ The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.

¹⁰Is there [any] thing whereof it may be said, See, this [is] new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

¹¹[There is] no remembrance of former [things]; neither shall there be [any] remembrance of [things] that are to come with [those] that shall come after.

¹²¶ I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all [things] that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

¹⁵[That which is] crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

¹⁶I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all [they] that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

¹⁷And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

¹⁸For in much wisdom [is] much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 2

¹¶ I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is] vanity.

²I said of laughter, [It is] mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

³I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

⁴I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:

⁵I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all [kind of] fruits:

⁶I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:

⁷I got [me] servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:

⁸I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, [as] musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

⁹So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.

¹¹Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun.

¹²¶ And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been already done.

¹³Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴The wise man's eyes [are] in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also [is] vanity.

¹⁶For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool.

¹⁷¶ Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous unto me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

¹⁸Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

¹⁹And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also vanity.

²⁰Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.

²¹For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity and a great evil.

²²For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

²³For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

²⁴[There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.

²⁵For who can eat, or who else can hasten [hereunto], more than I?

²⁶For [God] giveth to a man that [is] good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to [him that is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes 3

¹¶ To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;

³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

⁹What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

¹⁰I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

¹¹¶ He hath made every [thing] beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

¹²I know that [there is] no good in them, but for [a man] to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

¹³And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it [is] the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.

¹⁵That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

¹⁶¶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place of righteousness, [that] iniquity [was] there.

¹⁷I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for [there is] a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

¹⁹For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all [is] vanity.

²⁰All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

²¹Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

²²Wherefore I perceive that [there is] nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that [is] his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Ecclesiastes 4

¹¶ So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.

²Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

³Yea, better [is he] than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

⁴¶ Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.

⁵The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.

⁶Better [is] an handful [with] quietness, than both the hands full [with] travail and vexation of spirit.

⁷¶ Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

⁸There is one [alone], and [there is] not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet [is there] no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither [saith he], For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This [is] also vanity, yea, it [is] a sore travail.

⁹Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

¹⁰For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth; for [he hath] not another to help him up.

¹¹Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm [alone]?

¹²And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³¶ Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

¹⁴For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor.

¹⁵I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.

¹⁶[There is] no end of all the people, [even] of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.