Study Desk

In times of prosperity be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds.

So do not be excessively righteous or excessively wise; otherwise you might be disappointed.

Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, so no one has power over the day of his death. Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked.

Not only that, but I have seen the wicked approaching and entering the temple, and as they left the holy temple, they boasted in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma.

So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life. So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God gives him on earth.

So I reflected on all this, attempting to clear it all up. I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated— no one knows what lies ahead.

So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, but a poor man's wisdom is despised; no one ever listens to his advice.

One dead fly makes the perfumer's ointment give off a rancid stench, so a little folly can outweigh much wisdom.

If an iron axhead is blunt and a workman does not sharpen its edge, he must exert a great deal of effort; so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many—all that is about to come is obscure.

So remember your Creator in the days of your youth— before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them";

The Lover to His Beloved: Like a lily among the thorns, so is my darling among the maidens.

The Beloved about Her Lover: Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

The Beloved to Her Lover: Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind! Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its delightful fruit!

Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you find so desirable; you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards where you choose to worship.

many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the Lord 's mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so he can teach us his requirements, and we can follow his standards." For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem.

for all the cedars of Lebanon, that are so high and mighty, for all the oaks of Bashan;

so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs and the openings under the rocky overhangs, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth.

So the sovereign master will afflict the foreheads of Zion's women with skin diseases, the Lord will make the front of their heads bald."