While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this: Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm.

Though the stillborn child came into the world for no reason and departed into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness,

So I again considered another futile thing on earth:

Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.

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

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

I have seen another misfortune on the earth: It is an error a ruler makes.

I saw something else on earth: In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, there was wickedness.

But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.

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

So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?

I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth. I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied.

God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives.

Enjoy life with your beloved wife during all the days of your fleeting life that God has given you on earth during all your fleeting days; for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work on earth.

I thought deeply about the effects of indulging myself with wine (all the while my mind was guiding me with wisdom) and the effects of behaving foolishly, so that I might discover what is profitable for people to do on earth during the few days of their lives.

So I again considered all the oppression that continually occurs on earth. This is what I saw: The oppressed were in tears, but no one was comforting them; no one delivers them from the power of their oppressors.

Here is another enigma that occurs on earth: Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. I said, “This also is an enigma.”

So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life. So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God gives him on earth.

then I discerned all that God has done: No one really comprehends what happens on earth. Despite all human efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp it. Even if a wise person claimed that he understood, he would not really comprehend it.

Again, I observed this on the earth: the race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge – for time and chance may overcome them all.