So I began to despair about all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so hard on earth.

So I again considered another futile thing on earth:

So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?” So I lamented to myself, “The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!”

So I was far wealthier than all my predecessors in Jerusalem, yet I maintained my objectivity:

So do not be excessively righteous or excessively wise; otherwise you might be disappointed.

So I considered those who are dead and gone more fortunate than those who are still alive.

For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns under a cooking pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This kind of folly also is useless.

Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. Therefore, fear God!

This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?

So I loathed life because what happens on earth seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom are futile – like chasing the wind.

Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, so no one has power over the day of his death. Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked.

One dead fly makes the perfumer’s ointment give off a rancid stench, so a little folly can outweigh much wisdom.

So I loathed all the fruit of my effort, for which I worked so hard on earth, because I must leave it behind in the hands of my successor.

The fool folds his hands and does no work, so he has nothing to eat but his own flesh.

So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds?

When someone’s prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase; so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes?

I also thought to myself, “It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.

So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, but a poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens to his advice.

Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words.

For the fate of humans 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.