Ecclesiastes 4:3-9:18

English Standard Version

³ But ^(A)better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

⁴ Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is ^(B)vanity^[a] and a striving after wind.

⁵ The fool ^(C)folds his hands and ^(D)eats his own flesh.

^6 (E)Better is a handful of ^(F)quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

^7 (G)Again, I saw vanity under the sun: ⁸ one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his ^(H)eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, ^(I)“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy ^(J)business.

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, 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 together, they keep warm, ^(K)but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³ Better was ^(L)a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how ^(M)to take advice. ¹⁴ For he went ^(N)from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. ¹⁵ I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that^[b] youth who was to stand in the king's^[c] place. ¹⁶ There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is ^(O)vanity and a striving after wind.

Fear God

5 ^{[d] (P)}Guard your steps when you go to ^(Q)the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to ^(R)offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. ^2 [e] Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore ^(S)let your words be few. ³ For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with ^(T)many words.

⁴ When ^(U)you vow a vow to God, ^(V)do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. ^(W)Pay what you vow. ^5 (X)It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. ⁶ Let not your mouth lead you^[f] into sin, and do not say before ^(Y)the messenger^[g] that it was ^(Z)a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷ For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity;^[h] but^{[i] (AA)}God is the one you must fear.

The Vanity of Wealth and Honor

^8 (AB)If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, ^(AC)do not be amazed at the matter, ^(AD)for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. ⁹ But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.^[j]

¹⁰ He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. ¹¹ When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? ¹² Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

^13 (AE)There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, ¹⁴ and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. ^15 (AF)As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. ¹⁶ This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what ^(AG)gain is there to him who ^(AH)toils for the wind? ¹⁷ Moreover, all his days he ^(AI)eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

¹⁸ Behold, what I have seen to be ^(AJ)good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment^[k] in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his ^(AK)lot. ¹⁹ Everyone also to whom ^(AL)God has given ^(AM)wealth and possessions ^(AN)and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is ^(AO)the gift of God. ²⁰ For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

6 ^(AP)There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: ² a man ^(AQ)to whom ^(AR)God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he ^(AS)lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God ^(AT)does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity;^[l] it is a grievous evil. ³ If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that ^(AU)the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's ^(AV)good things, and he also has no ^(AW)burial, I say that ^(AX)a stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴ For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. ⁵ Moreover, it has not ^(AY)seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds ^(AZ)rest rather than he. ⁶ Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy^[m] no good—do not all go to the one place?

^7 (BA)All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.^{[n] 8} For what advantage has the wise man ^(BB)over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? ⁹ Better ^(BC)is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is ^(BD)vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁰ Whatever has come to be has ^(BE)already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to ^(BF)dispute with one stronger than he. ¹¹ The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? ¹² For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his ^(BG)vain^[o] life, which he passes like ^(BH)a shadow? For who can tell man what will be ^(BI)after him under the sun?

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

^14 (CA)In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, ^(CB)so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵ In my ^(CC)vain^[r] life I have seen everything. There is ^(CD)a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who ^(CE)prolongs his life in his evildoing. ¹⁶ Be not overly righteous, and do not ^(CF)make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷ Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. ^(CG)Why should you die before your time? ¹⁸ It is good that you should take hold of ^(CH)this, and from ^(CI)that ^(CJ)withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

^19 (CK)Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰ Surely ^(CL)there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹ Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear ^(CM)your servant cursing you. ²² Your heart knows that ^(CN)many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³ All this I have tested by wisdom. ^(CO)I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. ²⁴ That which has been is far off, and ^(CP)deep, very deep; ^(CQ)who can find it out?

^25 (CR)I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. ²⁶ And I find something more ^(CS)bitter than death: ^(CT)the woman whose heart is ^(CU)snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but ^(CV)the sinner is taken by her. ²⁷ Behold, this is what I found, says ^(CW)the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— ²⁸ which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. ^(CX)One man among a thousand I found, but ^(CY)a woman among all these I have not found. ²⁹ See, this alone I found, that ^(CZ)God made man upright, but ^(DA)they have sought out many schemes.

Keep the King's Command

² I say:^[s] Keep the king's command, because of ^(DD)God's oath to him.^{[t] 3} Be not hasty to ^(DE)go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. ⁴ For the word of the king is supreme, and ^(DF)who may say to him, “What are you doing?” ⁵ Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.^{[u] 6} For there is a time and a way ^(DG)for everything, although man's trouble^[v] lies heavy on him. ⁷ For he ^(DH)does not know what is to be, for ^(DI)who can tell him how it will be? ⁸ No man has power to ^(DJ)retain the spirit, ^(DK)or power over the day of death. There is no ^(DL)discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. ^9 (DM)All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

Those Who Fear God Will Do Well

¹⁰ Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of ^(DN)the holy place and were ^(DO)praised^[w] in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.^{[x] 11} Because ^(DP)the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, ^(DQ)the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. ¹² Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and ^(DR)prolongs his life, yet I know that ^(DS)it will be well with ^(DT)those who fear God, because they fear before him. ¹³ But it will ^(DU)not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like ^(DV)a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

Man Cannot Know God's Ways

¹⁴ There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people ^(DW)to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people ^(DX)to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. ¹⁵ And I commend joy, for man ^(DY)has nothing better under the sun but to ^(DZ)eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

¹⁶ When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see ^(EA)the business that is done on earth, how neither ^(EB)day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, ¹⁷ then I saw all the work of God, that ^(EC)man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, ^(ED)he cannot find it out.

Death Comes to All

9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, ^(EE)how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are ^(EF)in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. ^2 (EG)It is the same for all, since ^(EH)the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,^[y] to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who ^(EI)swears is as he who shuns an oath. ³ This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that ^(EJ)the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and ^(EK)madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ⁴ But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they will die, but ^(EL)the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for ^(EM)the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

⁷ Go, ^(EN)eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

^8 (EO)Let your garments be always white. Let not ^(EP)oil be lacking on your head.

⁹ Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your ^(EQ)vain^[z] life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your ^(ER)portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. ¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, ^(ES)do it with your might,^{[aa] (ET)}for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Wisdom Better Than Folly

^11 (EU)Again I saw that under the sun ^(EV)the race is not to the swift, nor ^(EW)the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and ^(EX)chance ^(EY)happen to them all. ¹² For man ^(EZ)does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and ^(FA)like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are ^(FB)snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

¹³ I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. ¹⁴ There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. ¹⁵ But there was found in it ^(FC)a poor, wise man, and he by his ^(FD)wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ But I say that ^(FE)wisdom is better than might, though ^(FF)the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in ^(FG)quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. ^18 (FH)Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but ^(FI)one sinner destroys much good.