Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty extends over the earth and sky.

Such are the ways of all who gain profit unjustly; it takes away the life of those who obtain it!

Do not be wise in your own estimation; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Do not make friends with an angry person, and do not associate with a wrathful person,

Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies;

Fear the Lord, my child, as well as the king, and do not associate with rebels,

so is a person who deceives his neighbor, and says, “Was I not only joking?”

If you should pound the fool in the mortar among the grain with the pestle, his foolishness would not depart from him.

If a wise person goes to court with a foolish person, there is no peace whether he is angry or laughs.

I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile – like chasing the wind!

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

I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.

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.

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

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

For you know in your own heart that you also have cursed others many times.

Feasts are made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.

The Beloved about Her Lover: All night long on my bed I longed for my lover. I longed for him but he never appeared.

The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!

The Beloved to the Maidens: I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem: “Do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!”