2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for
God isin heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is knownby
multitude of words.
4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hathno pleasure in fools: pay
that which thou hast vowed.
5 Better is itthat thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was
an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there arealso diversvanities: but fear thou
God.
8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a
province, marvel not at the matter: for he that ishigher than the highest regardeth; and there be
higher than they.
9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himselfis served by the field.
10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with
increase: this isalso vanity.
11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is thereto the owners
thereof, saving the beholding of themwith their eyes?
12 The sleep of a labouring man issweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of
the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
13 There is a sore evil whichI have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners
thereof to their hurt.
14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there isnothing in his
hand.
15 As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall
take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also isa sore evil, thatin all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit
hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hathmuch sorrow and wrath with his
sickness.
18 Behold thatwhich I have seen: it isgood and comely for oneto eat and to drink, and to enjoy
the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth
him: for it ishis portion.
19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat
thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this isthe gift of God.
20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth himin the joy
of his heart.
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it iscommon among men:
2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his
soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth
it: this isvanity, and it isan evil disease.
3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be
many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also thathe have no burial; I say, thatan
untimely birth isbetter than he.
4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with
darkness.
5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.
6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one
place?
7 All the labour of man isfor his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before
the living?
9 Better isthe sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this isalso vanity and
vexation of spirit.
10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it isman: neither may he
contend with him that is mightier than he.
11 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what isman the better?
12 For who knoweth what isgood for man in thislife, all the days of his vain life which he
spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
1 A good name isbetter than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.
2 It isbetter to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that isthe
end of all men; and the living will lay itto his heart.
3 Sorrow isbetter than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made
better.
4 The heart of the wise isin the house of mourning; but the heart of fools isin the house of
mirth.
5 It isbetter to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so isthe laughter of the fool: this also isvanity.
7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.
8 Better isthe end of a thing than the beginning thereof: andthe patient in spirit isbetter than
the proud in spirit.
9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
10 Say not thou, What is the causethat the former days were better than these? for thou dost
not enquire wisely concerning this.
11 Wisdom isgood with an inheritance: and by it there isprofit to them that see the sun.
12 For wisdom isa defence, andmoney isa defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that
wisdom giveth life to them that have it.
13 Consider the work of God: for who can make thatstraight, which he hath made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the
one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.
15 All thingshave I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just manthat perisheth in his
righteousness, and there is a wicked manthat prolongeth his lifein his wickedness.
16 Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy
thyself?
17 Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?
18 It isgood that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand:
for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.
19 Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty menwhich are in the city.
20 For there isnot a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
22 For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.
23 All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it wasfar from me.
24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?
25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of
things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness andmadness:
26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart issnares and nets, andher hands
bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
27 Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, countingone by one, to find out the account:
28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a
woman among all those have I not found.
29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many
inventions.
1 Who isas the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom
maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
2 I counsel theeto keep the king's commandment, and thatin regard of the oath of God.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever
pleaseth him.
4 Where the word of a king is, there ispower: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth
both time and judgment.
6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man isgreat
upon him.
7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
8 There isno man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath hepower in
the day of death: and there isno discharge in thatwar; neither shall wickedness deliver those
that are given to it.
9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is
a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they
were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this isalso vanity.
11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the
sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his daysbe prolonged, yet surely I know that
it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong hisdays, which areas a
shadow; because he feareth not before God.
14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it
happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it
happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also isvanity.
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and
to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which
God giveth him under the sun.
16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the
earth: (for also there is thatneither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the
sun: because though a man labour to seek itout, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a
wise manthink to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise,
and their works, arein the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred byall that is
before them.
2 All things comealike to all: there isone event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the
good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth
not: as isthe good, so isthe sinner; andhe that sweareth, as hethat feareth an oath.
3 This isan evil among all thingsthat are done under the sun, that there isone event unto all:
yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness isin their heart while they
