Surely the king’s authority ¹  is absolute; ²  no one can say ³  to him, “What are you doing?”

For the wise man, like ¹  the fool, will not be remembered for very long, ²  because ³  in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. ⁴  Alas, ⁵  the wise man dies – just like ⁶  the fool!

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

Surely no one knows the future, ¹  and no one can tell another person what will happen. ² 

At the beginning his words ¹  are foolish and at the end ²  his talk ³  is wicked madness, ⁴ 

Everyone shares the same fate ¹  – the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, ²  the ceremonially clean and unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; ³  what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.

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

if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die! ¹ 

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 

If an iron axhead ¹  is blunt and a workman ²  does not sharpen ³  its edge, ⁴  he must exert a great deal of effort; ⁵  so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.