Study Desk

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart.

When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful;

For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife."

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.

I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

I also said to myself, "As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.

Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.

So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?

or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.

Everyone comes naked from their mother's womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.

This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?

God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.

So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.