Study Desk

Do you see someone who thinks himself wise? There is more hope for a fool than for him!

The clever see trouble coming and hide; the thoughtless go on and pay the penalty.

Do you see someone too anxious to speak? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Is there something of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It existed already in the ages before us.

yet when I applied myself to understanding wisdom and knowledge, as well as stupidity and folly, I came to see that this too was merely feeding on wind.

Concerning people, I said to myself, "God is testing them, so that they will see that by themselves they are just animals.

So I concluded that there is nothing better for a person to do than take joy in his activities, that that is his allotted portion; for who can enable him to see what will happen after him?

If you see the poor oppressed, rights violated and justice perverted in the province, don't be surprised; for a high official has one higher watching him, and there are others above them.

class="poetry"> Don't speak impulsively — don't be in a hurry to give voice to your words before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; so let your words be few. For nightmares come from worrying too much; and a fool, when he speaks, chatters too much. If you make a vow to God, don't delay in discharging it. For God takes no pleasure in fools, so discharge your vow! Better not to make a vow than to make a vow and not discharge it. Don't let your words make you guilty, and don't tell the temple official that you made the vow by mistake. Why give God reason to be angry at what you say and destroy what you have accomplished? For [this is what happens when there are too] many dreams, aimless activities and words. Instead, just fear God! If you see the poor oppressed, rights violated and justice perverted in the province, don't be surprised; for a high official has one higher watching him, and there are others above them. But the greatest advantage to the country is when the king makes himself a servant to the land. The lover of money never has enough money; the lover of luxury never has enough income. This too is pointless. When the quantity of goods increases, so does the number of parasites consuming them; so the only advantage to the owner is that he gets to watch them do it. The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the overfullness of the rich won't let them sleep at all. Here is a gross evil which I have seen under the sun: the owner of wealth hoards it to his own hurt. Due to some misfortune, the wealth turns to loss; and then if he has fathered a son, he has nothing to leave him. Just as he came from his mother's womb, so he will go back naked as he came, and for his efforts he will take nothing that he can carry away in his hand. This too is a gross evil, that in every respect as he came, so will he go; thus what profit does he have after toiling to earn the wind? All his life he eats in darkness, in frustration, in sickness and in anger. This is what I have seen to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, drink and enjoy the good that results from all his work that he engages in under the sun for all the days of his life that God has given him, for this is his allotted portion. Also, everyone to whom God has given riches and wealth, along with the power to enjoy it, so that he takes his allotted portion and finds pleasure in his work — this is a gift of God; for he will not brood over the fact that his life is short, since God keeps him occupied with what will bring him joy.

Better what the eyes can see than meandering desire. Yet this too is pointless and feeding on wind.

Wisdom is good, along with possessions, an advantage to all who see the sun.

When I applied myself to gain wisdom and to observe how people occupy themselves on earth, that people's eyes don't see sleep either by day or by night,

Then the light will be sweet, and it will be a pleasure to see the sun.

on the day when the guards of the house are trembling, and men of courage are bent over double; when the women stop grinding grain, because there are so few; when the women at the windows can no longer see out;

For you see that the winter has passed, the rain is finished and gone,

[He] My dove, hiding in holes in the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, let me see your face and hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, her mother's only child, the darling of the one who bore her. The daughters see her and call her happy; the queens and concubines praise her.

[She] I had gone down to the nut orchard to see the fresh green plants in the valley, to see if the vine had budded, or if the pomegranate trees were in bloom.

[Chorus] Where has your darling gone, you most beautiful of women? Which way did your darling turn, so that we can help you find him? [She] My darling went down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies. I belong to the man I love, and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies. [He] You are as beautiful as Tirtzah, my love, as lovely as Yerushalayim, but formidable as an army marching under banners. Turn your eyes away from me, because they overwhelm me! Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Gil‘ad. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep that have just come up from being washed; each of them is matched, and none of them is missing. Your cheeks are like a pomegranate split open behind your veil. There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, as well as young women beyond number; but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, her mother's only child, the darling of the one who bore her. The daughters see her and call her happy; the queens and concubines praise her. "Who is this, shining forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun" — but formidable as an army marching under banners? [She] I had gone down to the nut orchard to see the fresh green plants in the valley, to see if the vine had budded, or if the pomegranate trees were in bloom. Before I knew it, I found myself in a chariot, and with me was a prince.

[Chorus] Come back, come back, girl from Shulam! Come back, come back to where we can see you! Why are you looking at the girl from Shulam as if she were dancing for two army camps?