before the silver cord is removed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the well, ¹  or the water wheel ²  is broken at the cistern –

For no one ¹  can eat and drink ²  or experience joy ³  apart from him. ⁴ 

For God will evaluate every deed, ¹  including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Sow your seed in the morning, and do not stop working ¹  until the evening; ²  for you do not know which activity ³  will succeed ⁴  – whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. ⁵ 

So do not be excessively righteous or excessively ¹  wise; ²  otherwise ³  you might ⁴  be disappointed. ⁵ 

Divide your merchandise ¹  among seven or even eight ²  investments, ³  for you do not know ⁴  what calamity ⁵  may happen on earth.

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.

When I tried ¹  to gain ²  wisdom and to observe the activity ³  on earth – even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night 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!

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.

Do not curse a king even in your thoughts, and do not curse the rich ¹  while in your bedroom; ²  for a bird ³  might report what you are thinking, ⁴  or some winged creature ⁵  might repeat your ⁶  words. ⁷ 

Just as you do not know the path ¹  of the wind, or how the bones form ²  in the womb of a pregnant woman, ³  so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth! Therefore, let your words be few.

So I reflected on all this, ¹  attempting to clear ²  it all up. I concluded that ³  the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated ⁴  – no one knows what lies ahead. ⁵ 

If you see the extortion ¹  of the poor, or the perversion ²  of justice and fairness in the government, ³  do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, ⁴  and there are higher ones over them! ⁵ 

Whatever you find to do with your hands, ¹  do it with all your might, because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ²  the place where you will eventually go. ³ 

before the sun and the light ¹  of the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds disappear ²  after the rain;

though it never saw the light of day ¹  nor knew anything, ²  yet it has more rest ³  than that man –

Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, ¹  so no one has power over the day of his ²  death. Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, ³  so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. ⁴ 

Again, ¹  I observed this on the earth: ²  the race is not always ³  won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity ⁴  does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success ⁵  always come to those with the most knowledge – for time and chance may overcome ⁶  them all.