7Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy; for your action was long ago approved by God.i 8Let your clothes always be freshly washed, and your head never lack ointment. 9Enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the fleeting days of life that have been granted to you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For that alone is what you can get out of life and out of the means you acquire under the sun. 10Whatever it is in your power to do, do with all your might. For there is no action, no reasoning, no learning, no wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.
11I have further observed under the sun that
The race is not won by the swift,
Nor the battle by the valiant;
Nor is bread won by the wise,
Nor wealth by the intelligent,
Nor favor by the learned.
For the time of mischancej comes to all.k 12And a man cannot even know his time. As fishes are enmeshed in a fatal net, and as birds are trapped in a snare, so men are caught at the time of calamity,j when it comes upon them without warning.
13This thing too I observed under the sun about wisdom, and it affected me profoundly. 14There was a little city, with few men in it; and to it came a great king, who invested it and built mighty siege works against it. 15Present in the city was a poor wise man l-who might have saved-l it with his wisdom, but nobody thought of that poor man. 16So I observed: Wisdom is better than valor; but
A poor man’s wisdom is scorned,
And his words are not heeded.
17mWords spoken softly by wise men are heeded n-sooner than those shouted by a lord in folly.-n
18Wisdom is more valuable than o-weapons of war,-o but a single error destroys much of value.
10 Dead flies turn the perfumer’s ointment fetid and putrid;a so a little folly outweighs massive wisdom.
2A wise man’s mind tends toward the right hand, a fool’s toward the left.b 3A fool’s mind is also wanting when he travels, and he lets everybody know he is a fool.
4If the wrath of a lord flares up against you, don’t give up your post;c for d-when wrath abates, grave offenses are pardoned.-d
5Here is an evil I have seen under the sun as great as an error committed by a ruler: 6Folly was placed on lofty heights, while rich men sat in low estate. 7I have seen slaves on horseback, and nobles walking on the ground like slaves.
8He who digs a pit will fall into it; he who breaches a stone fence will be bitten by a snake. 9He who quarries stones will e-be hurt by them; he who splits wood will be harmed by-e it. 10fIf the ax has become dull and he has not whetted the edge, he must exert more strength. Thus the advantage of a skill [depends on the exercise of] prudence. 11If the snake bites because no spell was uttered, no advantage is gained by the trained charmer.
12A wise man’s talk brings him favor, but a fool’s lips are his undoing. 13His talk begins as silliness and ends as disastrous madness. 14Yet the fool talks and talks!
gA man cannot know what will happen; who can tell him what the future holds?
15hA fool’s exertions tire him out, for he doesn’t know how to get to a town.
16Alas for you, O land whose king is a lackey and whose ministers dine in the morning! 17Happy are you, O land whose king is a master and whose ministers dine at the proper time—with restraint, not with guzzling!
18Through slothfulness the ceiling sags,
Through lazy hands the house caves in.
19Theyi make a banquet for revelry; wine makes life merry, and money answers every need.
20Don’t revile a king even among your intimates.j
Don’t revile a rich man even in your bedchamber;
For a bird of the air may carry the utterance,
And a winged creature may report the word.
11 Send your bread forth upon the waters; for after many days you will find it. 2Distribute portions to seven or even to eight, for you cannot know what misfortune may occur on earth.
3If the clouds are filled, they will pour down rain on the earth; and a-if a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will stay where it falls.-a 4If one watches the wind, he will never sow; and if one observes the clouds, he will never reap. 5Just as you do not know how the lifebreath passes intob the limbs within the womb of the pregnant woman, so you cannot foresee the actions of God, who causes all things to happen. 6Sow your seed in the morning, and don’t hold back your hand in the evening, since you don’t know which is going to succeed, the one or the other, or if both are equally good.
7How sweet is the light, what a delight for the eyes to behold the sun! 8Even if a man lives many years, let him enjoy himself in all of them, remembering how many the days of darkness are going to be. The only future is nothingness!
9O youth, enjoy yourself while you are young! Let your heart lead you to enjoyment in the days of your youth. Follow the desires of your heart and the glances of your eyes—but know well that God will call you to account for all such things—10and banish care from your mind, and pluck sorrow out of your flesh! For youth and black hair are fleeting.
12 So appreciate your vigora in the days of your youth, before those days of sorrow come and those years arrive of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds come back again after the rain:
3When the guards of the houseb become shaky,
And the men of valorc are bent,
And the maids that grind,d grown few, are idle,
And the ladies that peer through the windowse grow dim,
4And the doors to the streetf are shut—
With the noise of the hand mill growing fainter,
And the song of the bird g-growing feebler,-g
And all the strains of music dying down;h
5When one is afraid of heights
And there is terror on the road.—
For the almond tree may blossom,
i-The grasshopper be burdened,-i
And the caper bush may bud again;j
But man sets out for his eternal abode,
With mourners all around in the street.—
6Before the silver cord snaps
And the golden bowl crashes,
The jar is shattered at the spring,
And the jugk is smashed at the cistern.l
7And the dust returns to the ground
As it was,
And the lifebreath returns to God
Who bestowed it.
8Utter futility—said Koheleth—
All is futile!
9A further word: Because Koheleth was a sage, he continued to instruct the people. He listened to and tested the soundnessm of many maxims. 10Koheleth sought to discover useful sayings and recordedn genuinely truthful sayings. 11The sayings of the wise are like goads, like nails fixed o-in prodding sticks.-o p-They were given by one Shepherd.-p
12A further word: q-Against them,-q my son, be warned!
The making of many books is without limit
And much studyr is a wearying of the flesh.
13The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe His commandments! For this applies to all mankind: 14that God will call every creature to account for s-everything unknown,-s be it good or bad.
The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe His commandments! For this applies to all mankind.
a Probably “the Assembler,” i.e., of hearers or of saying; cf. 12.9–11.
b So Rashbam. Heb. ‘amal usually has this sense in Ecclesiastes; cf. Ps. 105.44.
c So Targum; cf. Bereshith Rabbah on Gen. 1.17.
d According to popular belief, through tunnels; so Targum and Rashi.
e-e Lit. “will not be remembered like …” For ‘im meaning “like,” cf. 2.16; 7.11; Job 9.26.
f Lit. “tending,” from root ra‘ah, “to shepherd.”
a The Heb. shiddah occurs only here in the Bible; in the Mishnah it designates a kind of chest.
b Septuagint and a few Heb. manuscripts have “(in exchange) for”; cf. 2.24; 3.13, 22; 5.17.
c The order of the two sentences in this verse is reversed in the translation for clarity.
d-d Change of vocalization yields “me, and who is to rule”; cf. vv. 18–19.
e See note on 1.11.
f Some mss. and ancient versions read mimmennu, “by His doing.”
g-g Lit. “wisdom and knowledge and enjoyment.”
a I.e., all human experiences are preordained by God; see v. 11.
b-b Lit. “giving birth.”
c-c Emendation yields “wrecking … repairing”; cf. 1 Kings 18.30.
d I.e., He preoccupies man with the attempt to discover the times of future events; cf. 8.17.
e I.e., what the author has already concluded (2.24) is good.
f Meaning of parts of verse uncertain.
g-g Shift of a diacritical point yields “He has set.”
h Contrast Ps. 8.5–6.
a Cf. 3.16.
b I.e., does not work; cf. Prov. 6.10; 24.33.
c-c Lit. “am I amassing … myself.”
d 4.9–5.8 consists of a series of observations, each of which is introduced by some slight association with what precedes. The theme of 4.4–8 is not resumed until 5.9.
e-e Emendation yields “hope for”; cf. 2.20.
f Taking rash as a verb; cf. Ps. 34.11.
g-g I.e., “the contemporaries of.”
h And so never heard of the gifted youth.
i For despite his wisdom, he too will be forgotten; cf. 2.16.
j I.e., the advantage of wisdom over folly.
k-k Lit. “Guard your foot when it [or, you] would go.”
a Heb. leb, lit. “heart,” sometimes designates the organ of speech; cf. Isa. 33.18; 59.13; Ps. 19.15; 49.4; Job 8.10.
b Some ancient versions read
