Charm is deceitful ¹  and beauty is fleeting, ²  but a woman who fears the Lord ³  will be praised.

I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man ¹  on earth, ²  and I concluded: Everything ³  he has accomplished ⁴  is futile ⁵  – like chasing the wind! ⁶ 

Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. ¹  Therefore, fear God!

It is better to be content with ¹  what the eyes can see ²  than for one’s heart always to crave more. ³  This continual longing ⁴  is futile – like ⁵  chasing the wind.

The more one argues with words, the less he accomplishes. ¹  How does that benefit him? ² 

For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns ¹  under a cooking pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This kind of folly ²  also is useless. ³ 

Banish ¹  emotional stress ²  from your mind. ³  and put away pain ⁴  from your body; ⁵  for youth ⁶  and the prime of life ⁷  are fleeting. ⁸ 

Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ¹  For this reason I call her ‘Proud one ²  who is silenced.’” ³ 

Here is ¹  another ²  enigma ³  that occurs on earth: Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, ⁴  and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. ⁵  I said, “This also is an enigma.”

Enjoy ¹  life with your beloved wife ²  during all the days of your fleeting ³  life that God ⁴  has given you on earth ⁵  during all your fleeting days; ⁶  for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work ⁷  on earth. ⁸ 

They have made me jealous ¹  with false gods, ²  enraging me with their worthless gods; ³  so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, ⁴  with a nation slow to learn ⁵  I will enrage them.

He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat and encouraged Israel to sin; ¹  they angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols. ² 

Look, you make my days short-lived, ¹  and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ²  Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ³ 

Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. ¹  Surely they accumulate worthless wealth without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” ² 

You severely discipline people for their sins; ¹  like a moth you slowly devour their strength. ²  Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)

I thought to myself, ¹  “Come now, ²  I will try ³  self-indulgent pleasure ⁴  to see ⁵  if it is worthwhile.” ⁶  But I found ⁷  that it also is futile. ⁸ 

Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished ¹  and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, ²  I concluded: ³  “All these ⁴  achievements and possessions ⁵  are ultimately ⁶  profitless ⁷  – like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained ⁸  from them ⁹  on earth.”

So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! ¹  Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively ²  wise?” ³  So I lamented to myself, ⁴  “The benefits of wisdom ⁵  are ultimately ⁶  meaningless!”

So I loathed ¹  life ²  because what happens ³  on earth ⁴  seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom ⁵  are futile – like chasing the wind.

Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet ¹  he will be master over all the fruit of ²  my labor ³  for which I worked so wisely ⁴  on earth! ⁵  This also is futile!