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

“Absolutely futile!” ¹  laments the Teacher, ²  “All of these things ³  are futile!” ⁴ 

So ¹  I was far wealthier ²  than all my predecessors in Jerusalem, yet I maintained my objectivity: ³ 

I did not restrain myself from getting whatever I wanted; ¹  I did not deny myself anything that would bring me pleasure. ²  So all my accomplishments gave me joy; ³  this was my reward for all my effort. ⁴ 

I designed ¹  royal gardens ²  and parks ³  for myself, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.

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 

Enjoy ¹  life with your beloved wife ²  during all the days of your fleeting ³  life that God ⁴  has given you on earth ⁵  during all your fleeting days; ⁶  for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work ⁷  on earth. ⁸ 

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

So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness ¹  will be many – all that is about to come is obscure. ² 

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

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

All of man’s labor is for nothing more than ¹  to fill his stomach ²  – yet his appetite ³  is never satisfied!

I have examined all this by wisdom; I said, “I am determined ¹  to comprehend this” ²  – but it was beyond my grasp. ³ 

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 

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.”

All this ¹  monotony ²  is tiresome; no one can bear ³  to describe it: ⁴  The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content ⁵  with hearing.

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!

All the streams flow ¹  into the sea, but the sea is not full, and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again. ² 

So I loathed ¹  life ²  because what happens ³  on earth ⁴  seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom ⁵  are futile – like chasing the wind.