¹And I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, and they had no comforter. ²Then I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive; ³and more fortunate than both is he who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

⁴And I saw all labour, and all success of work, that it is man’s jealousy of his neighbour. This also is vanity and pursuit of the wind. ⁵The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. ⁶Better is a handful with quietness, than both hands full with labour and pursuit of the wind.

⁷And I returned and saw vanity under the sun. ⁸There is one alone and without a second; also he hath neither son nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour, neither is his eye satisfied with riches, and he saith not, For whom then am I labouring, and depriving my soul of good? This also is vanity and a grievous occupation. ⁹Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. ¹⁰For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and who hath not another to lift him up! ¹¹Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one alone be warm? ¹²And if a man overpower the one, the two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³Better is a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth no more how to be admonished. ¹⁴For out of the prison-house he came forth to reign, although he was born poor in his kingdom. ¹⁵I saw all the living that walk under the sun, with the child, the second, that should stand up in his stead. ¹⁶There is no end of all the people, of all that stood before them; those however that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after the wind.

Chapter 5

¹Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and draw near to hear, rather than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil. ²Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in the heavens, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. ³For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool’s voice through a multitude of words.

⁴When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. ⁵Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. ⁶Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an inadvertence. Wherefore should God be wroth at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands? ⁷For in the multitude of dreams are vanities; so with many words: but fear God. ⁸If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter; for a higher than the high is watching, and there are higher than they.

⁹Moreover the earth is every way profitable: the king himself is dependent upon the field. ¹⁰He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This also is vanity. ¹¹When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what profit is there to the owner thereof, except the beholding of them with his eyes? ¹²The sleep of the labourer is sweet, whether he have eaten little or much; but the fulness of the rich doth not suffer him to sleep. ¹³There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt; ¹⁴or those riches perish by some evil circumstance, and if he have begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. ¹⁵As he came forth from his mother’s womb, naked shall he go away again as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. ¹⁶And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured for the wind? ¹⁷All his days also he eateth in darkness, and hath much vexation, and sickness, and irritation.

¹⁸Behold what I have seen good and comely: it is to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour wherewith man laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for that is his portion. ¹⁹Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and power to eat thereof, and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labour: that is a gift of God. ²⁰For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God answereth him with the joy of his heart.

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