What benefit can a worker gain from his toil?

What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.

Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

However, a poor but wise man lived in the city, and he could have delivered the city by his wisdom, but no one listened to that poor man.

The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again.

What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?

and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift from God.

Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.

The produce of the land is seized by all of them, even the king is served by the fields.

Then that wealth was lost through bad luck; although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him.

Here is another misfortune that I have seen on earth, and it weighs heavily on people:

I have examined all this by wisdom; I said, “I am determined to comprehend this” – but it was beyond my grasp.

This is what I also observed about wisdom on earth, and it is a great burden to me:

Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense, and shows everyone what a fool he is.

If an iron axhead is blunt and a workman does not sharpen its edge, he must exert a great deal of effort; so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”? It was already done long ago, before our time.

So I decided to discern the benefit of wisdom and knowledge over foolish behavior and ideas; however, I concluded that even this endeavor is like trying to chase the wind!

I thought to myself, “Come now, I will try self-indulgent pleasure to see if it is worthwhile.” But I found that it also is futile.

For all day long his work produces pain and frustration, and even at night his mind cannot relax! This also is futile!

There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.