Study Desk

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him-for this is his lot.

For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

For he enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.

All a man's labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.

For the more words, the more futility-and how does that profit anyone?

For who knows what is good for a man during the few days he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.

For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he wants.

For the king's word is supreme, and who can say to him, "What are you doing?"

For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him.

When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.