I thought deeply ¹  about the effects of ²  indulging ³  myself ⁴  with wine (all the while ⁵  my mind was guiding me ⁶  with wisdom) ⁷  and the effects of ⁸  behaving foolishly, ⁹  so that I might discover what is profitable for people to do on earth during the few days of their lives.

God has made everything fit beautifully ¹  in its appropriate time, but ²  he has also placed ignorance ³  in the human heart ⁴  so that ⁵  people ⁶  cannot discover what God has ordained, ⁷  from the beginning to the end ⁸  of their lives. ⁹ 

God gives a man riches, property, and wealth so that he lacks nothing that his heart ¹  desires, ²  yet God does not enable ³  him to enjoy ⁴  the fruit of his labor ⁵  – instead, someone else ⁶  enjoys ⁷  it! ⁸  This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. ⁹ 

While applying ¹  my mind ²  to everything ³  that happens in this world, ⁴  I have seen all this: Sometimes one person ⁵  dominates ⁶  other people ⁷  to their harm. ⁸ 

So I recommend the enjoyment of life, ¹  for there is nothing better on earth ²  for a person to do ³  except ⁴  to eat, drink, and enjoy ⁵  life. ⁶  So ⁷  joy ⁸  will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God gives him on earth. ⁹ 

So remember ¹  your Creator in the days of your youth – before ²  the difficult ³  days come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”? ¹  It was already ²  done long ago, ³  before our time. ⁴ 

Next, I decided to consider ¹  wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas. ²  For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king ³  has already done?

I considered all the living who walk on earth, ¹  as well as the successor ²  who would arise ³  in his place.

When you make a vow ¹  to God, do not delay in paying it. ²  For God ³  takes no pleasure in fools: Pay what you vow!

Whatever has happened was foreordained, ¹  and what happens to a person ²  was also foreknown. It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate because God is more powerful than he is. ³ 

It is best to take hold of one warning ¹  without letting go of the other warning; ²  for the one who fears God will follow ³  both warnings. ⁴ 

What I have continually sought, I have not found; I have found only ¹  one upright ²  man among a thousand, but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.

Do not rush out of the king’s presence in haste – do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, ¹  for he can do whatever he pleases.

Not only that, ¹  but I have seen the wicked approaching ²  and entering the temple, ³  and as they left the holy temple, ⁴  they boasted ⁵  in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma. ⁶ 

When ¹  a sentence ²  is not executed ³  at once against a crime, ⁴  the human heart ⁵  is encouraged to do evil. ⁶ 

But it will not go well with the wicked, nor will they ¹  prolong their ²  days like a shadow, ³  because they ⁴  do not stand in fear ⁵  before God.

But whoever is among ¹  the living ²  has hope; a live dog is better than a dead lion.

What they loved, ¹  as well as what they hated ²  and envied, ³  perished long ago, and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth. ⁴