Study Desk

Many useless promises are like so many dreams; they mean nothing. You should respect God.

I have seen what is best for people here on earth. They should eat and drink and enjoy their work, because the life God has given them on earth is short.

God gives some people the ability to enjoy the wealth and property he gives them, as well as the ability to accept their state in life and enjoy their work.

They do not worry about how short life is, because God keeps them busy with what they love to do.

God gives great wealth, riches, and honor to some people; they have everything they want. But God does not let them enjoy such things; a stranger enjoys them instead. This is useless and very wrong.

A man might have a hundred children and live a long time, but what good is it if he can't enjoy the good God gives him or have a proper burial? I say a baby born dead is better off than he is.

Even if he lives two thousand years, he doesn't enjoy the good God gives him. Everyone is going to the same place.

Whatever happens was planned long ago. Everyone knows what people are like. No one can argue with God, who is stronger than anyone.

Look at what God has done: No one can straighten what he has bent.

When life is good, enjoy it. But when life is hard, remember: God gives good times and hard times, and no one knows what tomorrow will bring.

It is good to grab the one and not let go of the other; those who honor God will hold them both.

I found that some women are worse than death and are as dangerous as traps. Their love is like a net, and their arms hold men like chains. A man who pleases God will be saved from them, but a sinner will be caught by them.

One thing I have learned: God made people good, but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad."

Obey the king's command, because you made a promise to God.

Though a sinner might do a hundred evil things and might live a long time, I know it will be better for those who honor God.

I also know it will not go well for evil people, because they do not honor God. Like a shadow, they will not last.

So I decided it was more important to enjoy life. The best that people can do here on earth is to eat, drink, and enjoy life, because these joys will help them do the hard work God gives them here on earth.

I also saw all that God has done. Nobody can understand what God does here on earth. No matter how hard people try to understand it, they cannot. Even if wise people say they understand, they cannot; no one can really understand it.

I thought about all this and tried to understand it. I saw that God controls good people and wise people and what they do, but no one knows if they will experience love or hate.

Good and bad people end up the same— those who are right and those who are wrong, those who are good and those who are evil, those who are clean and those who are unclean, those who sacrifice and those who do not. The same things happen to a good person as happen to a sinner, to a person who makes promises to God and to one who does not.