So ¹  I again considered ²  another ³  futile thing on earth: ⁴ 

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

For everything ¹  there is an appointed time, ²  and an appropriate time ³  for every activity ⁴  on earth: ⁵ 

I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man ¹  on earth, ²  and I concluded: Everything ³  he has accomplished ⁴  is futile ⁵  – like chasing the wind! ⁶ 

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 

I saw something else on earth: ¹  In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, ²  there was wickedness.

Here is ¹  a misfortune ²  on earth ³  that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.

Here is ¹  another misfortune ²  that I have seen on earth, ³  and it weighs ⁴  heavily on people: ⁵ 

For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns ¹  under a cooking pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This kind of folly ²  also is useless. ³ 

This is what I also observed about wisdom on earth, ¹  and it is a great burden ²  to me:

I have seen another ¹  misfortune ²  on the earth: ³  It is an error a ruler makes. ⁴ 

So I recommend the enjoyment of life, ¹  for there is nothing better on earth ²  for a person to do ³  except ⁴  to eat, drink, and enjoy ⁵  life. ⁶  So ⁷  joy ⁸  will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God gives him on earth. ⁹ 

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 

What exists now ¹  is what will be, ²  and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. ³ 

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.”

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.

So I loathed all the fruit of ¹  my effort, ²  for which I worked so hard ³  on earth, ⁴  because ⁵  I must leave it ⁶  behind ⁷  in the hands of my successor. ⁸ 

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!

But better than both is the one who has not been born ¹  and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth. ²