1 Words of the Preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher; vanity of vanities, everything is vanity.
3 What profit does a man have from all his labor with which he labors under the sun?
4 Generation goes, and generation comes; but the earth always remains.
5 The sun rises, and the sun sets, and hastens to return to the place from which he rises.
6 The wind pulls towards the south, and circles around to the north; It spins continuously, and the wind returns to its spins again.
7 The rivers all flow into the sea, and the sea is not filled; to the place where the rivers came from, there they return to flow again.
8 All things are wearisome beyond what man can express; The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing.
9 What was it? The same thing that will be. what do what has been done? The same thing that will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything that can be said: Behold, this is new? It was in the centuries that have preceded us.
11 There is no memory of what went before, nor will there be memory of what will happen in those who will come after.
12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I gave my heart to inquire and seek in wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; This painful work God gave to the sons of men to occupy themselves in it.
14 I looked at all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all this is vanity and affliction of spirit.
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is incomplete cannot be counted.
16 I spoke in my heart, saying, Behold, I have become great, and have grown in wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem; and my heart has perceived much wisdom and science.
17 And I devoted my heart to know wisdom, and also to understand follies and madness; I knew that even this was affliction of spirit.
18 For in much wisdom there is much trouble; and whoever adds science, adds pain.
1 I said in my heart: Come now, I will test you with joy, and you will enjoy good things. But behold, this also was vanity.
2 To laughter I said: You are mad; and to pleasure: What is the use of this?
3 I purposed in my heart to feast my flesh with wine, and that my heart should walk in wisdom, retaining foolishness, until I saw what good would be for the sons of men, in which they would devote themselves under heaven all the days of their lives. his life.
4 I have magnified my works, I have built houses for myself, I have planted vineyards for myself;
5 I made myself gardens and gardens, and planted in them trees of all fruit.
6 I made myself ponds of water, to water the forest where the trees grew.
7 I bought male and female servants, and I had male and female servants born at home; I also had a large possession of cattle and sheep, more than all those who were before me in Jerusalem.
8 I also piled up silver and gold, and precious treasures of kings and provinces; I made myself male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and all kinds of musical instruments.
9 And I was exalted and increased more than all those who were before me in Jerusalem; In addition to this, I kept my wisdom with me.
10 I did not deny my eyes anything they desired, nor did I keep my heart from any pleasure, because my heart enjoyed all my work; and this was my part of all my work.
11 Then I looked at all the works that my hands had done, and the work I took to do them; and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and of no profit under the sun.
12 Then I looked again to see the wisdom and the madness and the foolishness; for what can the man who comes after the king do? Nothing but what has already been done.
13 And I have seen that wisdom surpasses foolishness, as light surpasses darkness.
14 The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; but I also understood that the same event will happen to one as to the other.
15 Then I said in my heart, As it will happen to the fool, so it will happen to me. Why, then, have I worked until now to become wiser? And I said in my heart that this too was vanity.
16 For neither the wise nor the fool will be remembered forever; For in the days to come everything will be forgotten, and the wise man will also die like the fool.
17 Therefore I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was tedious to me; for all is vanity and affliction of spirit.
18 I also hated all my work that I had done under the sun, which I will have to leave to another who will come after me.
19 And who knows whether he will be wise or foolish who will have dominion over all my work in which I labored and in which I spent my wisdom under the sun? This is also vanity.
20 Therefore my heart despaired again about all the work in which I toiled, and in which I had occupied my wisdom under the sun.
21 May man work with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with righteousness, and may he give his property to a man who never worked at it! This is also vanity and great evil.
22 For what has a man of all his labor, and of the toil of his heart, with which he labors under the sun?
23 For all his days are but pains, and his labors are but troubles; Even at night his heart does not rest. This is also vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a man than for him to eat and drink, and for his soul to rejoice in his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
25 For who will eat, and who will take care of himself, better than me?
26 For to the man whom God pleases, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and piling up, to give it to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
1 There is a season for everything, and a time for everything under heaven.
2 Time to be born, and time to die; time to plant, and time to uproot what is planted;
3 time to kill, and time to heal; time to destroy, and time to build;
4 time to cry, and time to laugh; time to mourn, and time to dance;
5 a time to scatter stones, and a time to gather stones; time to embrace, and time to refrain from embracing;
6 time to search, and time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to break, and a time to sew; time to be silent, and time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate; time of war, and time of peace.
9 What profit does he who works have from what he toils at?
10 I have seen the work that God has given to the sons of men to do.
11 He made everything beautiful in his time; and has put eternity in their hearts, without man being able to understand the work that God has done from the beginning to the end.
12 I have known that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good in their lives;
13 and also that it is the gift of God that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his work.
14 I have understood that everything God does will be perpetual; There shall not be added to that, nor shall there be less taken from it; and God does it, so that men may fear before him.
15 That which was, is now; and what is to be, has already been; and God restores what happened.
16 I saw more under the sun: instead of judgment, there was wickedness; and instead of justice, there is iniquity.
17 And I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; because there is a time for everything you want and for everything you do.
18 I said in my heart, It is so because of the sons of men, that God may test them, and that they themselves may see that they themselves are like unto beasts.
19 For what happens to the sons of men, and what happens to the beasts, is the same event: as some die, so do others, and they all have the same breath; nor does man have more than the beast; because everything is vanity.
20 Everything goes to the same place; Everything is made from dust, and everything will return to the same dust.
21 Who knows that the spirit of the sons of men ascends upward, and that the spirit of the animal descends below to the earth?
22 So I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to rejoice in his work, because this is his part; for who will bear him to see what shall be after him?
1 I turned and saw all the violence that is done under the sun; and here are the tears of the oppressed, having no one to console them; and strength was in the hand of their oppressors, and there was no comforter for them.
2 And I praised the departed, those who are already dead, more than the living, those who are still alive.
3 And I considered him to be happier than both of them who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil works that are done under the sun.
4 I have also seen that every work and every excellence of works arouses man’s envy against his neighbor. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
5 The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.
6 Better a fist full with rest than both fists full with labor and affliction of spirit.
7 I turned again, and saw vanity under the sun.
8 There is a man alone and without a successor, who has no son or brother; but he never stops working, nor are his eyes satisfied with his riches, nor does he ask himself: For whom do I work, and defraud my soul of good? This too is vanity, and hard work.
9 Two are better than one; because they have better pay for their work.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion; but woe to the alone! that when he falls, there will be no second to lift him up.
11 Also if two sleep together, they will keep each other warm; but how will one warm himself?
12 And if anyone prevails against one, two will resist him; and a threefold cord is not soon broken.
13 Better is the poor and wise boy than the old and foolish king who does not accept advice;
14 because he came out of prison to reign, although in his kingdom he was born poor.
15 I saw all those who live under the sun walking with the successor boy, who will be in his place.
16 There was no end to the multitude of people who followed him; However, those who come after will not be happy with him either. And this is also vanity and affliction of spirit.
1 When you go to the house of God, guard your foot; and draw nearer to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools; because they don’t know what they are doing wrong.
2 Do not be hasty with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God; because God is in heaven, and you are on earth; Therefore, let your words be few.
3 For from much occupation comes sleep, and from the multitude of words the voice of the fool.
4 When you make a promise to God, do not delay in fulfilling it; for he takes no pleasure in fools. He keeps what you promise.
5 It is better that you do not promise, than that you promise and do not keep it.
6 Do not let your mouth cause you to sin, nor say before the angel that it was ignorance. Why will you make God angry because of your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?
7 Where dreams abound, vanities and many words also abound; but you, fear God.
8 If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of law and justice in the province, do not marvel at it; because a higher one watches over the high one, and a higher one is over them.
9 Furthermore, the profit of the land is for everyone; the king himself is subject to the fields.
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; and he who loves to have much, he will not bear fruit. This too is vanity.
11 When goods increase, those who consume them also increase. What good, then, will their owner have, except to see them with his eyes?
12 Sweet is the dream of the worker, eat much, eat little; But abundance does not let the rich man sleep.
13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept by their owners for their evil;
14 who are lost in evil pursuits, and nothing is left in their hands to the children they have fathered.
15 As he came out of his mother’s womb naked, so he returns, leaving just as he came; and has nothing of his work to carry in his hand.
16 This is also a great evil, that as it came, so it shall return. And what did it profit him to work in vain?
17 Besides this, all the days of his life he will eat in darkness, with much toil and pain and misery.
18 So here is the good that I have seen: that what is good is to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all the work with which he toils under the sun, all the days of his life that God has given him; because this is the part of it.
19 Likewise, to every man to whom God gives riches and goods, and also gives him the power to eat of them, and take his share, and enjoy his work, this is the gift of God.
20 For he will not remember much of the days of his life; because God will fill your heart with joy.
1 There is an evil that I have seen under heaven, and very common among men:
2 That of the man to whom God gives riches and goods and honor, and who lacks nothing of all that his soul desires; But God does not give him the power to enjoy it, but strangers enjoy it. This is vanity, and painful evil.
3 Even if a man begets a hundred children, and lives many years, and the days of his age are many; If his soul was not satisfied with good, and also lacked a grave, I say that an abortive person is better than him.
4 For this man comes in vain, and goes into darkness, and his name is covered with darkness.
5 Furthermore, he has not seen the sun, nor has he known it; This one has more rest than that one.
6 For if he lives a thousand years twice, without tasting good, do they not all go to the same place?
7 All a man’s work is for his mouth, and with all that his desire is not satisfied.
8 For what more has a wise man than a fool? What else does the poor man have who knew how to walk among the living?
9 Better the sight of the eyes than the desire that passes by. And this also is vanity and affliction of spirit.
10 Regarding what he is, he has long had a name, and it is known that he is a man and that he cannot contend with Him who is more powerful than he.
11 Surely many words multiply vanity. What else does the man have?
12 For who knows what is the good of a man in life, all the days of his life from his vanity, which he passes as a shadow? For who will teach man what will be after him under the sun?
1 A good name is better than good ointment; and better the day of death than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting; because that is the end of all men, and he who lives will put it in his heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter; because with the sadness of the face the heart will be mended.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools, in the house where there is joy.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than the song of fools.
6 For the laughter of a fool is like the noise of thorns under the pot. And this is vanity too.
7 Surely oppression makes the wise foolish, and gifts corrupt the heart.
8 Better is the end of a business than its beginning; Better is the long-suffering in spirit than the haughty in spirit.
9 Do not be quick in your spirit to become angry; for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Never say: What is the reason that the past times were better than these? Because you will never ask wisely about this.
11 Knowledge with inheritance is good, and profitable to those who see the sun.
12 For knowledge is a shield, and money is a shield; but wisdom exceeds, in that it gives life to its possessors.
13 Look at the work of God; for who can straighten what he has crooked?
14 On the day of good he enjoys good; and in the day of adversity he considers. God made both the one and the other, so that man would find nothing after him.
15 All this I have seen in the days of my vanity. There is a righteous man who perishes because of his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lengthens his days because of his wickedness.
16 Do not be too righteous, nor be too wise; why should you destroy yourself?
17 Do not do much evil, nor be foolish; why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you take this, and do not turn your hand away from that also; because he who fears God will succeed in everything.
19 Wisdom strengthens the wise man more than ten mighty men in a city.
20 Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21 Nor apply your heart to all things that are spoken, lest you hear your servant when he says evil of you;
22 because your heart knows that you also said evil about others many times.
23 All these things I tried with wisdom, saying, I will be wise; but wisdom departed from me.
24 What was was is far away; and the very deep, who will find it?
25 I turned and set my heart to know and examine and inquire after wisdom and reason, and to know the evil of folly and the madness of error.
26 And I have found more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands are her bands. He who pleases God will escape from it; but the sinner will remain imprisoned in it.
27 Behold, this I have found, says the Preacher, weighing things one by one to find the reason;
28 what my soul still seeks, and does not find: one man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all these I have never found.
29 Behold, I have found only this: that God made man upright, but they sought many perversions.
1 Who is like the wise man? and who is like him who knows the declaration of things? The wisdom of a man illuminates his face, and the coarseness of his countenance will change.
2 I advise you to keep the king’s commandment and the word of God’s oath.
3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, nor persist in an evil thing; because he will do everything he wants.
4 For the word of the king is with authority, and who will say to him, What are you doing?
5 He who keeps the commandment will experience no evil; and the heart of the wise discerns time and judgment.
6 Because for everything you want there is time and judgment; for the evil of man is great upon him;
7 for he does not know what he will be; and when it will be, who will teach him?
8 There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, nor power over the day of death; and weapons are of no use in such a war, nor will impiety free him who possesses it.
9 All this I have seen, and I have set my heart on everything that is done under the sun; There is a time when man lords over man to his own harm.
10 Likewise I have seen the wicked buried with honor; but those who frequented the holy place were later forgotten in the city where they had acted righteously. This is also vanity.
11 Because judgment is not immediately executed for an evil deed, the hearts of the sons of men are set in them to do evil.
12 Although the sinner does evil a hundred times, and prolongs his days, yet I also know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear his presence;
13 and it will not go well with the wicked, nor will his days be prolonged, which are like a shadow; because he does not fear before the presence of God.
14 There is vanity that is done on the earth: there are righteous people to whom it happens as if they were doing the works of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens as if they were doing the works of the righteous. I say this is also vanity.
15 Therefore I praised joy; for a man has no good under the sun, but he should eat and drink and be merry; and let this remain from his work the days of his life that God grants him under the sun.
16 I, therefore, dedicated my heart to know wisdom, and to see the work that is done on the earth (for there are those who neither night nor day see sleep in their eyes);
17 and I have seen all the works of God, that man cannot achieve the work that is done under the sun; No matter how much a man works looking for it, he will not find it; Although the wise man says that he knows it, he will not be able to reach it.
1 Truly I have given my heart to all these things, to declare all this: that the righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; Whether it is love or hate, men do not know; everything is before them.
2 Everything happens in the same way to everyone; the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked; the good, the clean and the unclean; to him who sacrifices, and to him who does not sacrifice; as to the good, so to the one who sins; to him who swears, as to him who fears the oath.
3 There is this evil among everything that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all, and also that the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and foolishness in their hearts during their life; and after this they go to the dead.
4 There is still hope for everyone who is among the living; because a live dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For those who live know that they must die; but the dead know nothing, nor do they have more pay; because his memory is forgotten.
6 Also his love and his hatred and his envy have already perished; and they will no longer have a part in everything that is done under the sun.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a glad heart; because your works are already pleasing to God.
8 Let your garments be white at all times, and never lack ointment on your head.
9 Enjoy life with the woman you love, all the days of the life of your vanity that are given to you under the sun, all the days of your vanity; because this is your part in life, and in your work with which you toil under the sun.
10 Whatever comes your way to do, do it according to your strength; because in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work, no work, no knowledge, no wisdom.
11 I turned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the war to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the prudent, nor favor to the eloquent; but time and opportunity happen to all.
12 For man neither knows his time; Like the fish that are caught in an evil net, and like the birds that are entangled in a snare, so are the children of men ensnared in the evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
13 I also saw this wisdom under the sun, which seems great to me:
14 a small city, and few men in it; and a great king comes against it, and besieges it and builds great strongholds against it;
15 and there is found in it a poor, wise man, who delivers the city with his wisdom; and no one remembered that poor man.
16 Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, although the poor man’s knowledge is despised and his words are not heard.
17 The words of the wise, heard in quiet, are better than the cry of the lord among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but a sinner destroys much good.
1 Dead flies make the perfumer’s perfume stink and give a bad smell; thus a little folly, to him who is esteemed wise and honorable.
2 The heart of the wise man is at his right hand, but the heart of the fool is at his left hand.
3 And even as the fool walks along the road, he lacks sense, and he goes around telling everyone that he is a fool.
4 If the spirit of the prince is exalted against you, do not leave your place; because meekness will cause great offenses to cease.
5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, like an error emanating from the prince:
6 foolishness is placed on high heights, and the rich sit in a low place.
7 I saw servants on horses, and princes walking like servants on the earth.
8 He who digs a hole will fall into it; and whoever breaks down a fence, the snake will bite him.
9 He who cuts stones is wounded by them; He who splits wood is in danger.
10 If the iron becomes dull and its edge is not ground, then more strength must be added; but wisdom is profitable for directing.
11 If the snake bites before being enchanted, the enchanter is of no use.
12 The words of the wise man’s mouth are full of grace, but the lips of a fool bring about his own ruin.
13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk, harmful raving.
14 A fool multiplies words, although no one knows what he will be; and who will tell him what will be after him?
15 The work of fools wearies them; because they don’t know where to go to the city.
16 Woe to you, land, when your king is a boy, and your princes feast in the morning!
17 Blessed are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat at their own time, to replenish their strength and not to drink!
18 Because of laziness the roof falls down, and because of the weakness of the hands the house rains.
19 For pleasure the banquet is made, and the wine makes the living glad; and money is useful for everything.
20 Do not even in your thoughts say evil about the king, nor in the secret of your chamber say evil about the rich man; for the birds of the air will carry the voice, and those that have wings will make the word known.
1 Cast your bread on the waters; because after many days you will find it.
2 Distribute to seven, and even to eight; because you do not know the evil that will come upon the earth.
3 If the clouds are full of water, they will pour it on the earth; and if the tree falls to the south, or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will remain.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow; and he who looks at the clouds, he will not reap.
5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you are ignorant of the work of God, who makes all things.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not let your hand rest; because you don’t know which is best, whether this or that, or whether both are equally good.
7 Surely the light is sweet, and the sun is pleasant to the eyes to see;
8 But although a man may live many years, and in all of them he may have joy, yet he must remember that the days of darkness will be many. Everything that comes is vanity
9 Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart take pleasure in the days of your youth; and walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; But know that God will judge you about all these things.
10 Therefore put away anger from your heart, and remove evil from your flesh; because adolescence and youth are vanity.
1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years come when you will say, I have no contentment in them;
2 before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;
3 when the guards of the house will tremble, and the strong men will bow down, and the teeth will cease because they have diminished, and those who look through the windows will be darkened;
4 and the outer doors will be closed because of the noise of the grindstone; when he will rise at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of song will be brought low;
5 when they will also fear what is high, and there will be terrors in the way; and the almond tree will blossom, and the locust will be a burden, and the appetite will be lost; for man goes to his eternal home, and mourners will walk around in the streets;
6 before the silver chain is broken, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the well, and the wheel is broken at the well;
7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, all is vanity.
9 And the wiser the Preacher was, the more he taught wisdom to the people; and he made people listen, and made people search, and composed many proverbs.
10 The Preacher sought to find pleasant words, and to write rightly words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are like stings; and like nails driven in are those of the teachers of the congregations, given by a Pastor.
12 Now, my son, in addition to this, be warned. There is no end to making many books; and much study is fatigue of the flesh.
13 The end of all the discourse heard is this: Fear God, and keep his commandments; because this is the everything of man.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment, along with every secret thing, whether good or bad.
