Ecclesiastes 1-4

Ecclesiastes 1

¹The 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 man of all his labour wherein he laboureth under the sun?

⁴One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; and the earth abideth for ever.

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

⁶The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.

⁷All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

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

⁹That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a thing whereof men say, See, this is new? it hath been already, in the ages which were before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of the former generations; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.

¹²I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

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

¹⁶I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

¹⁷And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.

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

Ecclesiastes 2

¹I SAID in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.

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

³I searched in mine heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, mine heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that 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 parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit:

⁶I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared:

⁷I bought menservants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem:

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, concubines very many.

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 because of all my labour; and this was my portion from 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 a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

¹²And 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, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all.

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

¹⁶For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been already forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!

¹⁷So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me: for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁸And I hated all my labour wherein I laboured under the sun: seeing that I must 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 wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

²⁰Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labour wherein I had laboured under the sun.

²¹For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; 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 a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboureth under the sun?

²³For all his days are but sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.

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

²⁵For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?

²⁶For to the man that pleaseth him God giveth 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 pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 3

¹To 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 seek, 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 for war, and a time for 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 therewith.

¹¹He hath made every thing beautiful in its time: also he hath set the world in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live.

¹³And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labour, 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 hath done it, that men should fear before him.

¹⁵That which is hath been already; and that which is to be hath already been: and God seeketh again that which is passed away.

¹⁶And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness 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, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as 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; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: 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 whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth?

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

Ecclesiastes 4

¹Then I returned and saw 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 than them both did I esteem him which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

⁴Then I saw all labour and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

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

⁶Better is an handful with quietness, than two handfuls with labour and striving after wind.

⁷Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.

⁸There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, saith he, do I labour, and deprive my soul of good? This also is 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, and hath not another to lift him up.

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

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

¹³Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more.

¹⁴For out of prison he came forth to be king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor.

¹⁵I saw all the living which walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead.

¹⁶There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.