<p class="poetry">It is better for you not to vowp> <p class="poetry">than to vow and not pay it.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">though it never saw the light of day<n id="1" /> nor knew anything,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">yet it has more rest<n id="3" /> than that man &#8211;p>

<p class="poetry">For<n id="1" /> there is not one truly<n id="2" /> righteous person on the earthp> <p class="poetry">who continually does good and never sins.p>

<p class="poetry">Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobility,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and your princes feast at the proper time<n id="2" /> &#8211; with self-control and not in drunkenness.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">All this<n id="1" /> monotony<n id="2" /> is tiresome; no one can bear<n id="3" /> to describe it:<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content<n id="5" /> with hearing.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Whatever has happened was foreordained,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and what happens to a person<n id="2" /> was also foreknown.p> <p class="poetry">It is useless for him to argue with God about his fatep> <p class="poetry">because God is more powerful than he is.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">What I have continually sought, I have not found;p> <p class="poetry">I have found only<n id="1" /> one upright<n id="2" /> man among a thousand,p> <p class="poetry">but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.p>

<p class="poetry">But it will not go well with the wicked,p> <p class="poetry">nor will they<n id="1" /> prolong their<n id="2" /> days like a shadow,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">because they<n id="4" /> do not stand in fear<n id="5" /> before God.p>

<p class="poetry">God gives a man riches, property, and wealthp> <p class="poetry">so that he lacks nothing that his heart<n id="1" /> desires,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">yet God does not enable<n id="3" /> him to enjoy<n id="4" /> the fruit of his labor<n id="5" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">instead, someone else<n id="6" /> enjoys<n id="7" /> it!<n id="8" />p> <p class="poetry">This is fruitless and a grave misfortune.<n id="9" />p>

<p class="poetry">Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">so no one has power over the day of his<n id="2" /> death.p> <p class="poetry">Just as no one can be discharged during the battle,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Again,<n id="1" /> I observed this on the earth:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the race is not always<n id="3" /> won by the swiftest,p> <p class="poetry">the battle is not always won by the strongest;p> <p class="poetry">prosperity<n id="4" /> does not always belong to those who are the wisest,p> <p class="poetry">wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,p> <p class="poetry">nor does success<n id="5" /> always come to those with the most knowledge &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">for time and chance may overcome<n id="6" /> them all.p>

<p class="poetry">then I discerned all that God has done:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No one really comprehends what happens<n id="2" /> on earth.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Despite all human<n id="4" /> efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp<n id="5" /> it.<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">Even if<n id="7" /> a wise person claimed<n id="8" /> that he understood,p> <p class="poetry">he would not really comprehend<n id="9" /> it.<n id="10" />p>