The Teacher says: I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item.

For if they fall, one will help his companion up, but pity ¹  the person who falls down and has no one to help him up.

Two people are better than one, because they can reap ¹  more benefit ²  from their labor.

Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm, but how can one person keep warm by himself?

Although an assailant may overpower ¹  one person, two can withstand him. Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

The words of the sages are like prods, ¹  and the collected sayings are like firmly fixed nails; they are given by one shepherd.

For the fate of humans ¹  and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting.

The wise man can see where he is going, ¹  but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that the same fate ²  happens to them both. ³ 

Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return.

if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die! ¹ 

What I have continually sought, I have not found; I have found only ¹  one upright ²  man among a thousand, but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

Everyone shares the same fate ¹  – the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, ²  the ceremonially clean and unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; ³  what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.

This is the unfortunate fact ¹  about everything that happens on earth: ²  the same fate awaits ³  everyone. In addition to this, the hearts of all people ⁴  are full of evil, and there is folly in their hearts during their lives – then they die. ⁵ 

Sow your seed in the morning, and do not stop working ¹  until the evening; ²  for you do not know which activity ³  will succeed ⁴  – whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. ⁵ 

A man who is all alone with no companion, ¹  he has no children nor siblings; ²  yet there is no end to all his toil, and he ³  is never satisfied with riches. He laments, ⁴  “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself ⁵  of pleasure?” ⁶  This also is futile and a burdensome task! ⁷