A man who is all alone with no companion, ¹  he has no children nor siblings; ²  yet there is no end to all his toil, and he ³  is never satisfied with riches. He laments, ⁴  “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself ⁵  of pleasure?” ⁶  This also is futile and a burdensome task! ⁷ 

I discovered this: ¹  More bitter than death is the kind of ²  woman ³  who is like a hunter’s snare; ⁴  her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is captured by her.

What benefit ¹  do people ²  get from all the effort which ³  they expend ⁴  on earth? ⁵ 

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 

During the days of my fleeting life ¹  I have seen both ²  of these things: Sometimes ³  a righteous person dies prematurely ⁴  in spite of ⁵  his righteousness, and sometimes ⁶  a wicked person lives long ⁷  in spite of his evil deeds.

Wisdom gives a wise person more protection ¹  than ten rulers in a city.

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

Who is ¹  a ²  wise person? Who knows the solution ³  to a problem? ⁴  A person’s wisdom brightens his appearance, ⁵  and softens ⁶  his harsh countenance. ⁷ 

Who really knows if the human spirit ¹  ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

For ¹  there is not one truly ²  righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins.

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 

For no one knows what is best for a person during his life ¹  – during the few days of his fleeting life – for ²  they pass away ³  like a shadow. Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth. ⁴ 

Surely oppression ¹  can turn a wise person into a fool; ²  likewise, ³  a bribe corrupts ⁴  the heart. ⁵ 

and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things ¹  are a gift from God.

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

It is better for a person to receive ¹  a rebuke from those who are wise ²  than to listen to the song ³  of fools.

yet a fool keeps on babbling. ¹  No one knows what will happen; who can tell him what will happen in the future? ² 

The sleep of the laborer is pleasant – whether he eats little or much – but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, for the oppression ¹  of the king ²  is severe upon his victim. ³ 

A wise person’s good sense protects him, ¹  but a fool’s lack of sense leaves him vulnerable. ²