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 

If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.

when those who keep watch over the house ¹  begin to tremble, ²  and the virile men begin to stoop over, ³  and the grinders ⁴  begin to cease because they grow few, and those who look through the windows grow dim, ⁵ 

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

For all day long ¹  his work produces pain and frustration, ²  and even at night his mind cannot relax! ³  This also is futile!

This is another misfortune: ¹  Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?

So I began to despair ¹  about all the fruit of ²  my labor ³  for which I worked so hard ⁴  on earth. ⁵ 

What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth? ¹ 

For he does not think ¹  much about the fleeting ²  days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied ³  with the joy he derives from his activity. ⁴ 

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!

For to the one who pleases him, ¹  God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing ²  wealth ³  – only to give ⁴  it ⁵  to the one who pleases God. This ⁶  task of the wicked ⁷  is futile – like chasing the wind!

Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years – even if he lives a long, long time, ¹  but cannot enjoy his prosperity – even if he were to live forever ²  – I would say, “A stillborn child ³  is better off than he is!” ⁴ 

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.”

Then I considered ¹  all the skillful work ²  that is done: Surely it is nothing more than ³  competition ⁴  between one person and another. ⁵  This also is profitless – like ⁶  chasing the wind.

and the doors along the street are shut; when the sound of the grinding mill ¹  grows low, and one is awakened ²  by the sound of a bird, and all their ³  songs ⁴  grow faint, ⁵ 

I have observed the burden that God has given to people ¹  to keep them occupied.

The produce of the land is seized ¹  by all of them, even the king is served ²  by the fields. ³ 

Obey the king’s command, ¹  because you took ²  an oath before God ³  to be loyal to him. ⁴ 

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 

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