¹There is a tragedy that I have seen under the sun. It is a terrible one for mortals. ²God gives one person riches, wealth, and honor so that he doesn’t lack anything he wants. Yet, God doesn’t give him the power to enjoy any of them. Instead, a stranger enjoys them. This is pointless and is a painful tragedy.

³Suppose a rich person wasn’t satisfied with good things ⸤while he was alive⸥ and didn’t even get an honorable burial ⸤after he died⸥. Suppose he had a hundred children and lived for many years. No matter how long he would have lived, it ⸤still⸥ would have been better for him to have been born dead. ⁴A stillborn baby arrives in a pointless birth and goes out into the darkness. The darkness then hides its name. ⁵Though it has never seen the sun or known anything, the baby finds more rest than the rich person. ⁶Even if the rich person lives two thousand years without experiencing anything good—don’t we all go to the same place?

More Pointless Challenges

⁷Everything that people work so hard for goes into their mouths, but their appetite is never satisfied.

⁸What advantage does a wise person have over a fool? What advantage does a poor person have in knowing how to face life?

⁹It is better to look at what is in front of you than to go looking for what you want. Even this is pointless. ⸤It’s like⸥ trying to catch the wind.

¹⁰Whatever has happened ⸤in the past⸥ already has a name. Mortals are already known for what they are. Mortals cannot argue with the one who is stronger than they.

¹¹The more words there are, the more pointless they become. What advantage do mortals gain from this? ¹²Who knows what may be good for mortals while they are alive, during the brief, pointless days they live? Mortals pass by like a shadow. Who will tell them about their future under the sun?

7TH CHAPTER

Proverbs about Life

¹A good name is better than expensive perfume, and the day you die is better than the day you’re born. ²It is better to go to a funeral than to a banquet because that is where everyone will end up. Everyone who is alive should take this to heart! ³Sorrow is better than laughter because, in spite of a sad face, the heart can be joyful. ⁴The minds of wise people think about funerals, but the minds of fools think about banquets.

⁵It is better to listen to wise people who reprimand you than to fools who sing your praises. ⁶The laughter of a fool is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot. Even this is pointless.

⁷Oppression can turn a wise person into a fool, and a bribe can corrupt the mind.

⁸The end of something is better than its beginning. It is better to be patient than arrogant.

⁹Don’t be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools. ¹⁰Don’t ask, “Why were things better in the old days than they are now?” It isn’t wisdom that leads you to ask this!

Wisdom Gives Life

¹¹Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. It is an advantage to everyone who sees the sun. ¹²Wisdom protects us just as money protects us, but the advantage of wisdom is that it gives life to those who have it.

¹³Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent?

A Truth for Every Situation

¹⁴When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one time as well as the other so that mortals cannot predict their future.

Mortals Don’t Get What They Deserve

¹⁵I have seen it all in my pointless life:

Righteous people die in spite of being righteous.

Wicked people go on living in spite of being wicked.

¹⁶Don’t be too virtuous, and don’t be too wise. Why make yourself miserable? ¹⁷Don’t be too wicked, and don’t be a fool. Why should you die before your time is up? ¹⁸It’s good to hold on to the one and not let go of the other, because the one who fears God will be able to avoid both extremes.

The Advantages of Wisdom

¹⁹Wisdom will help a wise person more than ten rulers can help a city. ²⁰Certainly, there is no one so righteous on earth that he always does what is good and never sins.

²¹Don’t take everything that people say to heart, or you may hear your own servant cursing you. ²²Your conscience knows that you have cursed others many times.

²³I used wisdom to test all of this. I said, “I want to be wise, but it is out of my reach.” ²⁴Whatever wisdom may be, it is out of reach. It is deep, very deep. Who can find out what it is? ²⁵I turned my attention to study, to explore, and to seek out wisdom and the reason for things. I learned that wickedness is stupid and foolishness is madness.

²⁶I find that a woman whose thoughts are ⸤like⸥ traps and snares is more bitter than death itself. Even her hands are ⸤like⸥ chains. Whoever pleases God will escape her, but she will catch whoever continues to sin.

²⁷The spokesman said, “This is what I’ve found: I added one thing to another in order to find a reason for things. ²⁸I am still seeking a reason for things, but have not found any. I found one man out of a thousand who had it, but out of all these I didn’t find one woman. ²⁹I have found only this: God made people decent, but they looked for many ways ⸤to avoid being decent⸥.”

8TH CHAPTER

¹Who is really wise? Who knows how to explain things? Wisdom makes one’s face shine, and it changes one’s grim look.

The Power of Kings Versus the Power of Death

²I ⸤advise⸥ you to obey the king’s commands because of the oath you took in God’s presence. ³Don’t be in a hurry to leave the king’s service. Don’t take part in something evil, because he can do whatever he pleases. ⁴Since a king’s word has such power, no one can ask him what he is doing. ⁵Whoever obeys his commands will avoid trouble. The mind of a wise person will know the right time and the right way ⸤to act⸥. ⁶There is a right time and a right way ⸤to act⸥ in every situation. Yet, a terrible human tragedy hangs over people.

⁷They don’t know what the future will bring. So who can tell them how things will turn out? ⁸No one has the power to prevent the spirit^aof life from leaving. No one has control over the day of his own death. There is no way to avoid the war ⸤against death⸥. Wickedness will not save wicked people ⸤from dying⸥.

Life Is Unfair

⁹I have seen all of this, and I have carefully considered all that is done under the sun whenever one person has authority to hurt others. ¹⁰Then I saw wicked people given an ⸤honorable⸥ burial. They used to go in and out of the holy place. They were praised in the city for doing such things. Even this is pointless.

The Need for Swift Justice

¹¹When a sentence against a crime isn’t carried out quickly, people are encouraged to commit crimes. ¹²A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and yet live a long life. Still, I know with certainty that it will go well for those who fear God, because they fear him. ¹³But it will not go well for the wicked. They will not live any longer. Their lives are like shadows, because they don’t fear God.

Enjoy Life

¹⁴There is something being done on earth that is pointless. Righteous people suffer for what the wicked do, and wicked people get what the righteous deserve. I say that even this is pointless.

¹⁵So I recommend the enjoyment ⸤of life⸥. People have nothing better to do under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves. This joy will stay with them while they work hard during their brief lives which God has given them under the sun.

¹⁶When I carefully considered how to study wisdom and how to look at the work that is done on earth (even going without sleep day and night), ¹⁷then I saw everything that God has done. No one is able to grasp the work that is done under the sun. However hard a person may search for it, he will not find ⸤its meaning⸥. Even though a wise person claims to know, he is not able to grasp it.

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Footnotes

a 8:8 Or “breath.”