^1–34Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet—the tears of the victims, no one to comfort them; the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive. But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth.

⁴Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.

⁵The fool sits back and takes it easy,

His sloth is slow suicide.

⁶One handful of peaceful repose

Is better than two fistfuls of worried work—

More spitting into the wind.

Why Am I Working Like a Dog?

^7–8I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.

^9–10It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.

Share the work, share the wealth.

And if one falls down, the other helps,

But if there’s no one to help, tough!

¹¹Two in a bed warm each other.

Alone, you shiver all night.

¹²By yourself you’re unprotected.

With a friend you can face the worst.

Can you round up a third?

A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

^13–16A poor youngster with some wisdom is better off than an old but foolish king who doesn’t know which end is up. I saw a youth just like this start with nothing and go from rags to riches, and I saw everyone rally to the rule of this young successor to the king. Even so, the excitement died quickly, the throngs of people soon lost interest. Can’t you see it’s only smoke? And spitting into the wind?

God’s in Charge, Not You

¹5Watch your step when you enter God’s house.

Enter to learn. That’s far better than mindlessly offering a sacrifice,

Doing more harm than good.

²Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think.

Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear.

God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better.

³Overwork makes for restless sleep.

Overtalk shows you up as a fool.

^4–5When you tell God you’ll do something, do it—now.

God takes no pleasure in foolish gabble. Vow it, then do it.

Far better not to vow in the first place than to vow and not pay up.

⁶Don’t let your mouth make a total sinner of you.

When called to account, you won’t get by with

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

Why risk provoking God to angry retaliation?

⁷But against all illusion and fantasy and empty talk

There’s always this rock foundation: Fear God!

A Salary of Smoke

^8–9Don’t be too upset when you see the poor kicked around, and justice and right violated all over the place. Exploitation filters down from one petty official to another. There’s no end to it, and nothing can be done about it. But the good earth doesn’t cheat anyone—even a bad king is honestly served by a field.

¹⁰The one who loves money is never satisfied with money,

Nor the one who loves wealth with big profits. More smoke.

¹¹The more loot you get, the more looters show up.

And what fun is that—to be robbed in broad daylight?

¹²Hard and honest work earns a good night’s sleep,

Whether supper is beans or steak.

But a rich man’s belly gives him insomnia.

^13–17Here’s a piece of bad luck I’ve seen happen:

A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him

And then loses it all in a bad business deal.

He fathered a child but hasn’t a cent left to give him.

He arrived naked from the womb of his mother;

He’ll leave in the same condition—with nothing.

This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went.

So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke?

All for a miserable life spent in the dark?

Make the Most of What God Gives

^18–20After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.

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