Study Desk

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, so are a man's words sweet to his friend.

Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, so I may answer him who puts me to shame.

As water acts as a mirror to a face, so the heart of man acts as a mirror to a man.

Shaking milk makes butter, and hitting the nose brings blood. So fighting comes because of anger.

What has been is what will be. And what has been done is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with things that are fun. So have a good time." But see, this also was for nothing.

So I turned to think about wisdom and what is crazy and foolish. For what can the man do who comes after the king, except what has already been done?

Then I said to myself, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" So I said to myself, "This also is for nothing."

So I hated life. For the work which had been done under the sun brought sorrow to me. Because everything is for nothing and is like trying to catch the wind.

So I was filled with sorrow for all I had worked for under the sun.

I know that everything God does will last forever. There is nothing to add to it, and nothing to take from it. God works so that men will honor Him with fear.

For the same thing is to happen to both the sons of men and animals. As one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and to be a man is no better than to be an animal. Because all is for nothing.

So I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his work, for that is all he can do. Who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

So I thought that those who are already dead are better off than those who are still living.

Do not hurry to speak or be in a hurry as you think what to tell God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth. So let your words be few.

When there are more good things, there are also more people to eat them. So what does their owner get except to see them with his eyes?

This also is very wrong: As a man is born, this is the way he will leave. So what does the man get who works for the wind?

God gives a man riches and many good things and honor, so that he has everything he wants. But He does not allow him to have joy from them, for a stranger has joy from them. This is for nothing, and is very bad.

In the day of well-being be happy. But in the day of trouble, think about this: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man can never know what is going to happen.

Because a sinful act is not punished in a hurry, so the hearts of the sons of men are given completely over to sin.