Do You Agree With Kohelet?

(1) The words of Kohelet son of David, king in Jerusalem. (2) Utter futility!—said Kohelet— Utter futility! All is futile! (3) What real value is there for a man In all the gains he makes beneath the sun?

(9) Only that shall happen Which has happened, Only that occur Which has occurred; There is nothing new Beneath the sun! (10) Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say, “Look, this one is new!”—it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us. (11) The earlier ones are not remembered; so too those that will occur later will no more be remembered than those that will occur at the very end.

(1) A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven: (2) A time for being born and a time for dying, A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted; (3) A time for slaying and a time for healing, A time for tearing down and a time for building up; (4) A time for weeping and a time for laughing, A time for wailing and a time for dancing; (5) A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones, A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces; (6) A time for seeking and a time for losing, A time for keeping and a time for discarding; (7) A time for ripping and a time for sewing, A time for silence and a time for speaking; (8) A time for loving and a time for hating; A time for war and a time for peace.

(12) Thus I realized that the only worthwhile thing there is for people to enjoy themselves and do what is good in their lifetime; (13) also, that whenever a person does eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all their wealth, it is a gift of God.

(4) It is better not to vow at all than to vow and not fulfill.

(5) It is better to listen to a wise person’s reproof than to listen to the praise of fools.

(14) here is a frustration that occurs in the world: sometimes an upright person is requited according to the conduct of the scoundrel; and sometimes the scoundrel is requited according to the conduct of the upright. I say all that is frustration.

(3) A fool’s mind is also wanting when he travels, and he lets everybody know he is a fool.

(1) Send your bread forth upon the waters; for after many days you will find it.

(13) I found that Wisdom is superior to folly As light is superior to darkness; (14) A wise man has his eyes in his head, Whereas a fool walks in darkness. But I also realized that the same fate awaits them both. (15) So I reflected: “The fate of the fool is also destined for me; to what advantage, then, have I been wise?” And I came to the conclusion that that too was futile, (16) because the wise man, just like the fool, is not remembered forever; for, as the succeeding days roll by, both are forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies, just like the fool!

(18) So I decided, as regards men, to dissociate them [from] the divine beings and to face the fact that they are beasts. (19) For in respect of the fate of man and the fate of beast, they have one and the same fate: as the one dies so dies the other, and both have the same lifebreath; man has no superiority over beast, since both amount to nothing. (20) Both go to the same place; both came from dust and both return to dust. (21) Who knows if a man’s lifebreath does rise upward and if a beast’s breath does sink down into the earth? (22) I saw that there is nothing better for man than to enjoy his possessions, since that is his portion. For who can enable him to see what will happen afterward?

(7) And I have noted this further futility under the sun: (8) the case of the man who is alone, with no companion, who has neither son nor brother; yet he amasses wealth without limit, and his eye is never sated with riches. For whom, now, is he amassing it while denying himself enjoyment? That too is a futility and an unhappy business.

(9) Two are better off than one, in that they have greater benefit from their earnings. (10) For should they fall, one can raise the other; but woe betide him who is alone and falls with no companion to raise him! (11) Further, when two lie together they are warm; but how can he who is alone get warm? (12) Also, if one attacks, two can stand up to him. A threefold cord is not readily broken!

(17) Only this, I have found, is a real good: that one should eat and drink and get pleasure with all the gains he makes under the sun, during the numbered days of life that God has given him; for that is his portion. (18) Also, whenever a man is given riches and property by God, and is also permitted by the Lord to enjoy them and to take his portion and get pleasure for his gains—that is a gift of God. (19) For [such a man] will not brood much over the days of his life, because God keeps him busy enjoying himself.

(1) So appreciate your vigor in the days of your youth, before those days of sorrow come and those years arrive of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; (2) before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds come back again after the rain: (3) When the guards of the house become shaky, And the men of valor are bent, And the maids that grind, grown few, are idle, And the ladies that peer through the windows grow dim, (4) And the doors to the street are shut— With the noise of the hand mill growing fainter, And the song of the bird growing feebler, And all the strains of music dying down; (5) When one is afraid of heights And there is terror on the road.— For the almond tree may blossom, The grasshopper be burdened, And the caper bush may bud again; But man sets out for his eternal abode, With mourners all around in the street.— (6) Before the silver cord snaps And the golden bowl crashes, The jar is shattered at the spring, And the jug is smashed at the cistern. (7) And the dust returns to the ground As it was, And the lifebreath returns to God Who bestowed it.

(12) A further word: Against them, my son, be warned! The making of many books is without limit And much study is a wearying of the flesh.

(13) The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe the Lord's commandments! For this applies to all mankind: (14) that God will call every creature to account for everything unknown, be it good or bad. The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe the Lord's commandments! For this applies to all mankind.