Ecclesiastes 1 - 6
1 THE WORDS OF THE SPEAKER, the son of David, king in
Jerusalem.
Emptiness, emptiness, says the Speaker, emptiness, all is empty.
What does man gain from all his labour and his toil here under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, while the earth endures for ever.
The sun rises and the sun goes down; back it returns to its place and
rises there again. The wind blows south, the wind blows north, round and
round it goes and returns full circle. All streams run into the sea, yet the
sea never overflows; back to the place from which the streams ran they
return to run again.
All things are wearisome; no man can speak of them all. Is not the eye
surfeited to seeing, and the ear sated with hearing? What has happened
will happen again, and what has been done will be done again, and there
is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say,
'Look, this is new'? No, it has already existed, long ago before our time.
The men of old are not remembered, and those who follow will not be
remembered by those who follow them.
I, the Speaker, ruled as king over Israel in Jerusalem; and in wisdom I
applied my mind to study and explore all that is done under heaven. It is
a sorry business that God has given men to busy themselves with. I have
seen all the deeds that are done here under the sun; they are all emptiness
and chasing the wind. What is crooked cannot become straight; what is
not there cannot be counted. I said to myself, 'I have amassed great wisdom,
more than all my predecessors on the throne in Jerusalem; I have become
familiar with wisdom and knowledge.' So I applied my mind to under-
stand wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly, and I came to see that
this too is chasing the wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and
the more a man knows, the more he has to suffer.
2 I said to myself, 'Come, I will plunge into pleasure and enjoy myself';
but this too was emptiness. Of laughter I said, 'It is madness!' And of
pleasure, 'What is the good of that?' So I sought to stimulate myself with
wine, in the hope of finding out what was good for men to do under heaven
throughout the brief span of their lives. But my mind was guided by wis-
dom, not blinded by folly.
I undertook great works; I built myself houses and planted vineyards;
I made myself gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit-trees in
them; I made myself pools of water to irrigate a grove of growing trees;
I bought slaves, male and female, and I had my home-born slaves as well;
I had possessions, more cattle and flocks than any of my predecessors in
Jerusalem; I amassed silver and gold also, the treasure of kings and pro-
vinces; I acquired singers, men and women, and all that men delight in.
I was great, greater than all my predecessors in Jerusalem; and my wisdom
stood me in good stead. Whatever my eyes coveted, I refused them nothing,
nor did I deny myself any pleasure. Yes, indeed, I got pleasure from all my
labour, and for all my labour this was my reward. Then I turned and
reviewed all my handiwork, all my labour and toil, and I saw that every-
thing was emptiness and chasing the wind, of no profit under the sun.
I set myself to look at wisdom and at madness and folly. Then I per-
ceived that wisdom is more profitable than folly, as light is more profitable
than darkness: the wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in the
dark. Yet I saw that one and the same fate overtakes them both. So I
said to myself, 'I too shall suffer the fate of the fool. To what purpose have
I been wise? What is the profit of it? Even this', I said to myself, 'is
emptiness. The wise man is remembered no longer than the fool, for, as
the passing days multiply, all will be forgotten. Alas, wise man and fool
die the same death!' So I came to hate life, since everything that was done
here under the sun was a trouble to me; for all is emptiness and chasing the
wind. So I came to hate all my labour and toil here under the sun, since I
should have to leave its fruits to my successor. What sort of a man will he
be who succeeds me, who inherits what others have acquired? Who knows
whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all the
fruits of my labour and skill here under the sun. This too is emptiness.
Then I turned and gave myself up to despair, reflecting upon all my
labour and toil here under the sun. For anyone who toils with wisdom,
knowledge, and skill must leave it all to a man who has spent no labour on
it. This too is emptiness and utterly wrong. What reward has a man for all
his labour, his scheming, and his toil here under the sun? All his life long
his business is pain and vexation to him; even at night his mind knows no
rest. This too is emptiness. There is nothing better for a man to do than to
eat and drink and enjoy himself in return for his labours. And yet I saw
that this comes from the hand of God. For without him who can enjoy his
food, or who can be anxious? God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy
to the man who pleases him, while to the sinner is given the trouble of
gathering and amassing wealth only to hand it over to someone else who
pleases God. This too is emptiness and chasing the wind.
3 FOR EVERYTHING ITS SEASON, and for every activity under heaven its
time:
a time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to uproot;
a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to pull down and a time to build up;
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time for mourning and a time for dancing;
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek and a time to lose;
a time to keep and a time to throw away;
a time to tear and a time to mend;
a time for silence and a time for speech;
a time for love and a time for hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
What profit does one who works get from all his labour? I have seen
the business that God has given men to keep them busy. He has made
everything to suit its time; moreover he has given men a sense of time past
and future, but no comprehension of God's work from beginning to end.
I know that there is nothing good for man except to be happy and live
the best life he can live while he is alive. Moreover, that a man should eat and
drink and enjoy himself, in return for all his labours, is a gift from God. I
know that whatever God does lasts for ever; to add to it or subtract from it
is impossible. And he has done it all in such a way that men must feel awe
in his presence. Whatever is has been already, and whatever is to come has
been already, and God summons each event back in its turn. Moreover I
saw here under the sun that, where justice ought to be, there was wicked-
ness, and where righteousness ought to be, there was wickedness. I said to
myself, 'God will judge the just man and the wicked equally; every activity
and every purpose has its proper time.' I said to myself, 'In dealing with
men it is God's purpose to test them and to see what they truly are. For
man is a creature of chance and the beasts are creatures of chance, and one
mischance awaits them all: death comes to both alike. They all draw the
same breath. Men have no advantage over beasts; for everything is empti-
ness. All go to the same place: all came from the dust, and to the dust all
return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward or whether
the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth?' So I saw that there is
nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work, since that is his lot.
For who can bring him through to see what will happen next?
4 Again, I consider all the acts of oppression here under the sun; I saw
the tears of the oppressed, and I saw that there was no one to comfort them.
Strength was on the side of their oppressors, and there was no one to avenge
them. I counted the dead happy because they were dead, happier than the
living who are still in life. More fortunate than either I reckoned the man
yet unborn, who had not witnesssed the wicked deeds done here under the
sun. I considered all toil and all achievement and saw that it comes from
rivalry between man and man. This too is emptiness and chasing the wind.
The fool folds his arms and wastes away. Better one hand full and peace of
mind, than both fists full and toil that is chasing the wind.
Here again, I saw emptiness under the sun: a lonely man without a
friend, without son or brother, toiling endlessly yet never satisfied with his
wealth——'For whom', he asks, 'am I toiling and denying myself the good
things of life?' This too is emptiness, a sorry business. Two are better
than one; they receive a good reward for their toil, because, if one falls, the
other can help his companion up again; but alas for the man who falls
alone with no partner to help him up. And, if two lie side by side, they keep
each other warm; but how can one keep warm by himself? If a man is
alone, an assailant may overpower him, but two can resist; and a cord of
three strands is not quickly snapped.
Better a young man poor and wise than a king old and foolish who will
listen to advice no longer. A man who leaves prison may well come to be
king, though born a pauper in his future kingdom. But I have studied all
life here under the sun, and I saw his place taken by yet another young man,
and no limit set to the number of the subjects whose master he became.
And he in turn will be no hero to those who come after him. This too is
emptiness and chasing the wind.
5 Go carefully when you visit the house of God. Better draw near in
obedience than offer the sacrifice of fools, who sin without a thought. Do
not rush into speech, let there be no hasty utterance in God's presence.
God is in heaven, you are on earth; so let your words be few. The sensible
man has much business on his hands; the fool talks and it is so much chatter.
When you make a vow to God, do not be slow to pay it, for he has no use for
fools; pay whatever you vow. Better not vow at all than vow and fail to pay.
Do not let your tongue lead you into sin, and then say before the angel of
God that it was a mistake; or God will be angry at your words, and all your
achievements will be brought to nothing. You must fear God.
If you witness in some province the oppression of the poor and the
denial of right and justice, do not be surprised at what goes on, for every
official has a higher one set over him, and the highest keeps watch over
them all. The best thing for a country is a king whose own lands are well
tilled.
The man who loves money can never have enough, and the man who is
in love with great wealth enjoys no return from it. This too is emptiness.
When riches multiply, so do those who live off them; and what advantage
has the owner, except to look at them? Sweet is the sleep of the labourer
whether he eats little or much; but the rich man owns too much and cannot
hoard wealth to his own hurt, and the that wealth is lost through an
unlucky venture, and the owner's son left with nothing. As he came from
the womb of mother earth, so must he return, naked as he came; all his
toil produces nothing which he can take away with him. This too is a
singular evil: exactly as he came, so shall he go, and what profit does he
get when his labour is all for the wind? What is more, all his days are over-
shadowed; gnawing anxiety and great vexation are his lot, sickness and
resentment. What I have seen is this: that it is good and proper for a man
to eat and drink and enjoy himself in return for his labours here under the
sun, throughout the brief span of life which God has allotted him. MOre-
over, it is a gift of God that every man to whom he has granted wealth and
riches and the power to enjoy them should accept his lot and rejoice in his
labour. He will not dwell overmuch upon the passing years; for God fills
his time with joy of heart.
6 Here is an evil under the sun which I have seen, and it weighs heavy
upon men. Consider the man to whom God grants wealth, riches, and sub-
stance, and who lacks nothing that he has his heart set on: if God has not
given him the power to enjoy these things, but a stranger enjoys them
instead, that s emptiness and a grave disorder. A man may have a hundred
children an live a long life; but however many his days may be, if he does
not get satisfaction from the good things of life and in the end receives no
burial, then I maintain that the still-born child is in better case than he. Its
coming is an empty thing, it departs into darkness, and in darkness its
name is hidden; it has never seen the sun or known anything, yet its state
is better than his. What if a man should live a thousand years twice over,
and never prosper? Do not both go to one place?
The end of all man's toil is but to fill his belly, yet his appetite is never
satisfied. What advantage then in facing life has the wise man over the fool,
or the poor man for all his experience? It is better to be satisfied with what
is before your eyes than give rein to desire; this too is emptiness and chas-
ing the wind. Whatever has already existed has been given a name, its
nature is known; a man cannot contend with what is stronger than he. The
more words one uses the greater is the emptiness of it all; and where is the
advantage to a man? For who can know what is good for a man in this life,
this brief span of empty existence through which he passes like a shadow?
Who can tell a man what is to happen next here under the sun?
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Apr 24, 2019, 12:24 PM UTC
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