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All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow.
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All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.
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What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
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The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.
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Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.
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Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
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because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
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For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.
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There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God;
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I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;
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I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.
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So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?
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but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
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For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.
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And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
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there was no end to all those people whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
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Reverence, Humility, and Contentment
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.
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When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow.
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It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfill it.
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Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words, and destroy the work of your hands?
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If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.
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The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.
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Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep.
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and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands.
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As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands.
