8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.

“Everything is meaningless!”

9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

13 Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the duty of all mankind.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil.

8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. 9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

8 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”

9 Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. 10 The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.

11 The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.

12 But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.

13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

“All is vanity.”

9 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. 12 And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.

14 For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.

8 Everything is useless!

The Teacher says that everything is useless.

9 The Teacher was very wise and taught the people what he knew. He very carefully thought about, studied, and set in order many wise teachings. 10 The Teacher looked for just the right words to write what is dependable and true.

11 Words from wise people are like sharp sticks used to guide animals. They are like nails that have been driven in firmly. Altogether they are wise teachings that come from one Shepherd. 12 So be careful, my son, about other teachings. People are always writing books, and too much study will make you tired.

13 Now, everything has been heard,

so I give my final advice:

Honor God and obey his commands,

because this is all people must do.

14 God will judge everything,

even what is done in secret,

the good and the evil.

8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

9 And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.

11 The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12 And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher: all is vanity. 9 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words; and that which was written is upright, words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are as goads, and the collections of them as nails fastened in: they are given from one shepherd. 12 And besides, my son, be warned by them: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 Let us hear the end of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

8 “Absolutely pointless!” says the spokesman. “Everything is pointless!” 

9 Besides being wise, the spokesman also taught the people what he knew. He very carefully thought about it, studied it, and arranged it in many proverbs. 10 The spokesman tried to find just the right words. He wrote the words of truth very carefully. 

11 Words from wise people are like spurs. Their collected sayings are like nails that have been driven in firmly. They come from one shepherd. 12 Be warned, my children, against anything more than these. People never stop writing books. Too much studying will wear out your body. 13 After having heard it all, this is the conclusion: Fear God, and keep his commands, because this applies to everyone. 14 God will certainly judge everything that is done. This includes every secret thing, whether it is good or bad. 

8 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile.”

9 In addition to the Teacher being a wise man, he constantly taught the people knowledge; he weighed, explored, and arranged many proverbs. 10 The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and write words of truth accurately. 11 The sayings of the wise are like goads, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd.

12 But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body. 13 When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is: fear God and keep His commands, because this is for all humanity. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

8 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity.

9 Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs. 10 The Teacher sought to find pleasing words, and he wrote words of truth plainly.

11 The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings that are given by one shepherd. 12 Of anything beyond these, my child, beware. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

8 “Vanity of vanity!” says the Teacher.

“Everything is vanity!”

9 The Teacher was full of wisdom, and he taught the people with knowledge. He carefully considered many proverbs and carefully arranged them. 10 The Teacher sought to find delightful words, and he wrote what is upright—truthful words.

11 The words of the wise are like cattle goads; the collections of the sages are like pricks inflicted by one shepherd. 12 My son, be careful about anything beyond these things. For the writing of books is endless, and too much study is wearisome.

13 Now that all has been heard, here is the final conclusion:

Fear God and obey his commandments,

for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

8 “Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!”

says the Teacher.

“Nothing has any meaning.”

9 The Teacher was wise. He gave knowledge to people. He put many proverbs to the test. He thought about them carefully. Then he wrote them down in order. 10 He did his best to find just the right words. And what he wrote was honest and true.

11 The sayings of those who are wise move people to take action. Their collected sayings really nail things down. They are given to us by one Shepherd. 12 My son, be careful not to pay attention to anything that is added to them.

Books will never stop being written. Too much studying makes people tired.

13 Everything has now been heard.

And here’s the final thing I want to say.

Have respect for God and obey his commandments.

That’s what everyone should do.

14 God will judge everything people do.

That includes everything they try to hide.

He’ll judge everything, whether it’s good or evil.

8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”

9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs.

10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.

11 The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.

12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.