Ecclesiastes 3

1 TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:2 A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted, 3 A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up,4 A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,5 A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,6 A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away,7 A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak, 8 A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What profit remains for the worker from his toil?10 I have seen the painful labor and exertion and miserable business which God has given to the sons of men with which to exercise and busy themselves.11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to get and do good as long as they live;13 And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor--it is the gift of God.14 I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it. And God does it so that men will [reverently] fear Him [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is]. 15 That which is now already has been, and that which is to be already has been; and God seeks that which has passed by [so that history repeats itself].16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice there was wickedness, and that in the place of righteousness wickedness was there also.17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time [appointed] for every matter and purpose and for every work.18 I said in my heart regarding the subject of the sons of men, God is trying (separating and sifting) them, that they may see that by themselves [under the sun, without God] they are but like beasts.19 For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even [in the end] one thing befalls them both. As the one dies, so dies the other. Yes, they all have one breath and spirit, so that a man has no preeminence over a beast; for all is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!20 All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.21 Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?22 So I saw 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 back to see what will happen after he is gone?

Ecclesiastes 4

1 THEN I returned and considered all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun: And I beheld the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they [too] had no comforter.2 So I praised and thought more fortunate those who have been long dead than the living, who are still alive.3 But better than them both [I thought] is he who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.4 Then I saw that all painful effort in labor and all skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This is also vanity, a vain striving after the wind and a feeding on it.5 The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh [destroying himself by indolence].6 Better is a handful with quietness than both hands full with painful effort, a vain striving after the wind and a feeding on it.7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun [in one of its peculiar forms].8 Here is one alone--no one with him; he neither has child nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labor, neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither does he ask, For whom do I labor and deprive myself of good? This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility); yes, it is a painful effort and an unhappy business. 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good [more satisfying] reward for their labor;10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!11 Again, if two lie down together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone?12 And though a man might prevail against him who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.13 Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive counsel (friendly reproof and warning)--14 Even though [the youth] comes out of prison to reign, while the other, born a king, becomes needy.15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun with the youth who was to stand up in the king’s stead.16 There was no end to all the people; he was over all of them. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory) and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it.

Ecclesiastes 5

1 KEEP YOUR foot [give your mind to what you are doing] when you go [as Jacob to sacred Bethel] to the house of God. For to draw near to hear and obey is better than to give the sacrifice of fools [carelessly, irreverently] too ignorant to know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.3 For a dream comes with much business and painful effort, and a fool’s voice with many words.4 When you vow a vow or make a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God has no pleasure in fools (those who witlessly mock Him). Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Do not allow your mouth to cause your body to sin, and do not say before the messenger [the priest] that it was an error or mistake. Why should God be [made] angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in a multitude of dreams there is futility and worthlessness, and ruin in a flood of words. But [reverently] fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is].8 If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in the state or province, do not marvel at the matter. [Be sure that there are those who will attend to it] for a higher [official] than the high is observing, and higher ones are over them.9 Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all; the king himself is served by the field and in all, a king is an advantage to a land with cultivated fields.10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with gain. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!11 When goods increase, they who eat them increase also. And what gain is there to their owner except to see them with his eyes?12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the fullness of the rich will not let him sleep.13 There is a serious and severe evil which I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt.14 But those riches are lost in a bad venture; and he becomes the father of a son, and there is nothing in his hand [with which to support the child].15 As [the man] came forth from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; and he will take away nothing for all his labor which he can carry in his hand.16 And this also is a serious and severe evil--that in all points as he came, so shall he go; and what gain has he who labors for the wind? 17 All his days also he eats in darkness [cheerlessly, with no sweetness and light in them], and much sorrow and sickness and wrath are his.18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is for one to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun all the days which God gives him--for this is his [allotted] part. 19 Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, and the power to enjoy them and to accept his appointed lot and to rejoice in his toil--this is the gift of God [to him].20 For he shall not much remember [seriously] the days of his life, because God [Himself] answers and corresponds to the joy of his heart [the tranquillity of God is mirrored in him].

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