Study Desk

Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

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.

Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

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

God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous evil.

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.

if he lives a thousand years twice over, but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

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

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?

A good name is better than fine perfume, and one's day of death is better than his day of birth.

In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

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

Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

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.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth-though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night-