21~ECCLESAISTES *BOOK* KOHELET

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|001` The words of Kohelet, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|002` Vanity of vanities, said Kohelet, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|003` What gains a man from all his labor at which he labors under the sun?

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|004` One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides for ever.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|005` The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to its place where it rises again.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|006` The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; it whirls around continually, and the wind returns again according to its circuits.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|007` All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; to the place from where the rivers come, there they return again.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|008` All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|009` That which has been, is what shall be; and that which has been done is what shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|010` Is there any thing about which it may be said, See, this is new? It has been already in the ages before us.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|011` There is no remembrance of former things; nor shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those who shall come after.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|012` I Kohelet was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|013` And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven; it is a hard task that God has given to the sons of man to be exercised with.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|014` I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|015` That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|016` In my heart I said, Behold, I became a great man and acquired more wisdom than all those who have been before me in Jerusalem; and my heart has seen much of wisdom and knowledge.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|017` And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly; I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.

21~ECCLESAISTES 001|018` For in much wisdom there is much grief; and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|001` I said in my heart, Come now, I will try you with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure; and, behold, this also is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|002` I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What does it achieve?

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|003` I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet guiding my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|004` I made great works for myself; I built houses; I planted vineyards.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|005` I made gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|006` I made pools of water, to water with it a forest of growing trees.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|007` I acquired servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|008` I gathered also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I acquired men singers and women singers, and, the delight of men, many women.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|009` And I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|010` And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I did not restrain my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my portion of all my labor.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|011` Then I looked at all the works that my hands had done, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|012` And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what can a successor to the king do over that which has already been done.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|013` Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|014` The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness; and I myself perceived also that one event happens to them all.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|015` Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it happens even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|016` For 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. How the wise man dies, just like the fool!

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|017` Therefore I hated life; because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and striving after wind.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|018` And I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun; because I should leave it to the man that shall be after me.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|019` And who knows whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet he shall have rule over all my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|020` Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took under the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|021` For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill; yet to a man that has not labored in it shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|022` For what has man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, in which he has labored under the sun?

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|023` For all his days are sorrows, and his labor grief; even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|024` There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul find enjoyment in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|025` For who can eat, or who can enjoy pleasure more than I?

21~ECCLESAISTES 002|026` For God gives wisdom, and knowledge, and joy, to the man who pleases Him, but to the sinner he gives the task to gather and amass, only to hand it to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and striving after wind.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|001` To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|002` A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|003` A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|004` A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|005` A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|006` A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|007` A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|008` A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|009` What gains has he who works in that in which he labors?

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|010` I have seen the occupation which God has given men to be concerned with.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|011` He has made every thing beautiful in his time; also he has set the mystery of the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work which God has made from the beginning to the end.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|012` I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good in their life.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|013` And also that it is the gift of God that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|014` I know that, whatever God does, it shall be for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it; and God does it, that men should fear before him.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|015` That which is, already has been; and that which is to be has already been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|016` And moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment wickedness was there; and that in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|017` I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|018` I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God is testing them, that they might see that they are but beasts.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|019` For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; one thing befalls them both; as the one dies, so dies the other. They have all one breath; so that a man has no preeminence over a beast; for all is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|020` All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|021` Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward, and the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth?

21~ECCLESAISTES 003|022` So I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his work; for that is his portion; who can bring him to see what shall be after him?

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|001` 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.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|002` So I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still alive.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|003` And better than both of them is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|004` And I saw that all labor, and every skill in work, come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and striving after wind.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|005` The fool folds his hands together, and eats his own flesh.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|006` Better is a handful with quietness, than both hands full of labor and striving after wind.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|007` Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|008` There is a man alone, without a companion; he neither has son nor brother; yet there is no end of all his labor; nor is his eye satisfied with riches. He may say, For whom do I labor, and bereave my soul of good? This also is vanity, indeed it is a bad business.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|009` Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|010` For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|011` Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone?

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|012` And though a man might attack, two shall withstand him; a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|013` Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king, who no longer knows how to take care of himself.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|014` For out of prison he comes to reign; or in his own kingdom had become poor.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|015` I saw all the living who walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|016` There is no end of all the people, even of all who have been before them; yet they who come after shall not rejoice in him. This also is vanity and striving after wind.

21~ECCLESAISTES 004|017` Guard your foot when you go to the house of God; to get near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do evil.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|001` Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|002` For a dream comes through a multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by a multitude of words.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|003` When you vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools; pay what you have vowed.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|004` It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|005` Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; and do not say, before the angel, that it was an error; why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|006` For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also many vanities; but you, fear God.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|007` If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, do not be amazed by it; for he who is higher than the highest watches; and there are yet higher ones over them.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|008` And the land has an advantage for everyone; he who works the field is a king.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|009` He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance with gain; this also is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|010` When goods increase, they who eat them are increased; and what good is there to its owners, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|011` The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not let him sleep.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|012` There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun; riches kept for their owner to his hurt.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|013` But those riches perish by bad venture; and he fathers a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|014` As he came forth from his mother's womb, he shall return, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|015` And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go; and what gains has he who has labored for the wind?

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|016` All his days also he eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and wrath.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|017` Behold that which I have seen; it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun during the number of the days, which God gave him, because that is his portion.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|018` Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

21~ECCLESAISTES 005|019` For he shall not much remember the days of his life, in which God provides him with the joy of his heart.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|001` There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy upon men.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|002` A man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|003` If a man fathers one hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not content with the good, and he also has no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|004` For it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|005` Moreover he has not seen the sun, nor known anything; this has more rest than the other.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|006` And even though he should live a thousand years twice, and had not seen enjoyment. Do not all go to the same place?

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|007` All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|008` For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? What has the poor man who knows how to walk among the living?

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|009` Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire; this also is vanity and striving after wind.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|010` That which has been was named already, and it is known what man is; nor may he contend with one who is mightier than he.

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|011` Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

21~ECCLESAISTES 006|012` For who knows what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|001` A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|002` 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.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|003` Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|004` The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|005` It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|006` For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool; this also is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|007` Surely oppression makes a wise man mad; and a bribe destroys the heart.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|008` Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|009` Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry; for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|010` Do not say, Why were the former days better than these? For It is not from wisdom that you ask this.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|011` Wisdom is good with an inheritance; and by it there are gains to those who see the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|012` For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|013` Consider the work of God; for who can make that straight, what he has made crooked?

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|014` In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|015` All things have I seen in the days of my vanity; there is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|016` Do not be too righteous; nor make yourself too wise; why should you destroy yourself?

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|017` Do not be too wicked, nor be foolish; why should you die before your time?

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|018` It is good that you should take hold of this; but do not withdraw your hand from that either; for he who fears God shall come forth from them all.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|019` Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten rulers who are in the city.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|020` For there is not a just man upon earth, that does good, and does not sin.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|021` Also take no heed to all words that are spoken; lest you hear your servant curse you.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|022` For many times has your heart known that you yourself have cursed others.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|023` All this have I proved by wisdom; I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|024` That which is far off, and very deep, who can find it out?

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|025` I applied my heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and foolishness which is madness.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|026` And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands are fetters; whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be caught by her.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|027` Behold, this have I found, said Kohelet, counting one thing to another to find out the sum.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|028` Which yet my soul seeks, but I find not; one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

21~ECCLESAISTES 007|029` Behold, only this have I found, that God has made man upright; but they have sought out many schemes.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|001` Who is like the wise man? and who knows the meaning of a matter? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the boldness of his face is changed.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|002` I keep the king's commandment, and in the manner of an oath of God.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|003` Do not be hasty to leave his presence; stand not in an evil thing; for he does whatever pleases him.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|004` For in the word of a king there is authority; and who may say to him, What do you do?

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|005` Whoever keeps the commandment shall feel no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|006` Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, though the misery of man is great upon him.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|007` For he knows not that which shall be; for who can tell him when it shall be?

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|008` There is no man who has power over the wind to retain the wind; nor has he authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in that war; nor shall wickedness deliver those who are given to it.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|009` All this have I seen, and gave my heart to every work that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man rules over another to his own hurt.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|010` And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the holy place, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done; this also is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|011` Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|012` Though a sinner does evil one hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, who fear before him.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|013` But it shall not be well with the wicked, nor shall he prolong his days, which are like a shadow; because he does not fear before God.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|014` There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are just men, to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous; I said that this also is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|015` And I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry; for this will go with him in his labor during the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|016` When I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth; for neither by day nor by night one's eyes see sleep.

21~ECCLESAISTES 008|017` And I saw all the work of God, for a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man would labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; and also if a wise man claims to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|001` For all this I laid to my heart, and sought to clarify all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their deeds, are in the hand of God; no man knows whether it is love or hatred; all is before them.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|002` All things come alike to all; there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the pure, and to the impure; to him who sacrifices, and to him who does not sacrifice; as is the good man, so is the sinner; and he who swears as he who shuns an oath.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|003` This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event to all; 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.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|004` For to him who is joined to all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|005` For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know nothing, nor do they have a reward any more; for the memory of them is forgotten.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|006` Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; nor have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|007` Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|008` Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|009` Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of the life of your vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|010` Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your strength; for there is no work, nor scheme, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, to which you are going.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|011` I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|012` For man also does not know his time; like the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and like the birds that are caught in the trap; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|013` This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|014` There was a little city, and few men in it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great siege works against it.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|015` And a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that poor man.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|016` And said I, Wisdom is better than might; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|017` The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the shouting of him who rules among fools.

21~ECCLESAISTES 009|018` Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|001` Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth a foul smell; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|002` A wise man's heart inclines him to his right hand; but a fool's heart to his left.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|003` And also, on the road, when a fool walks by, his understanding fails him, and he says to every one that he is a fool.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|004` If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, leave not your place; for deference pacifies great offenses.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|005` There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceeds from the ruler.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|006` Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|007` I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|008` He who digs a pit shall fall into it; and whoever breaks a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|009` He who removes stones shall be hurt by them; and he who chops wood shall be endangered by that.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|010` If the iron is blunt, and one does not whet the edge, he must apply more strength; but wisdom increases skill.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|011` If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage in a charmer.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|012` The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|013` The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is evil madness.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|014` A fool is full of words; a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|015` The labor of fools wearies him, for he does not know how to go to the city.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|016` Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes dine in the morning!

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|017` Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of free men, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|018` By slothfulness the beams collapse; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|019` For laughter bread is made, and wine gladdens life, and money answers all things.

21~ECCLESAISTES 010|020` Do not curse the king, not even in your thought; and curse not the rich in your bed chamber; for a bird of the sky shall carry the voice, and that which has wings shall tell the matter.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|001` Cast your bread upon the waters, for you shall find it after many days.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|002` Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for you know not what evil shall be upon the earth.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|003` If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if the tree falls to the south, or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|004` He who observes the wind shall not sow; and he who regards the clouds shall not reap.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|005` As you do not know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you do not know the works of God who makes all.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|006` In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both alike shall be good.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|007` And the light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|008` And if many years lives a man, let him rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|009` Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know, that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

21~ECCLESAISTES 011|010` And remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for childhood and youth are vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|001` Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|002` Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|003` In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look out of the windows are dimmed.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|004` And the doors are shut on the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|005` Also when they are afraid of that which is high, and fears are in the way, and the almond tree blossoms, and the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails; because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|006` Before the silver cord is removed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|007` And the dust returns to the earth as it was; and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|008` Vanity of vanities, said Kohelet; all is vanity.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|009` And besides being wise, Kohelet also taught the people knowledge; for he weighed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|010` Kohelet sought to find out acceptable words; and words of truth written in proper form.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|011` The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings, which are given by one shepherd.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|012` And furthermore, by these, my son, be admonished; of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|013` The end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.

21~ECCLESAISTES 012|014` For God shall bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

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