Though the stillborn child ¹  came into the world ²  for no reason ³  and departed into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness, ⁴ 

Surely oppression ¹  can turn a wise person into a fool; ²  likewise, ³  a bribe corrupts ⁴  the heart. ⁵ 

One who digs a pit may ¹  fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. ² 

Who really knows if the human spirit ¹  ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

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 

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

Rejoice, young man, while you are young, ¹  and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the impulses ²  of your heart and the desires ³  of your eyes, but know that God will judge your motives and actions. ⁴ 

Do not let your mouth cause you ¹  to sin, and do not tell the priest, ²  “It was a mistake!” ³  Why make God angry at you ⁴  so that he would destroy the work of your hands?”

Because of laziness the roof ¹  caves in, and because of idle hands ²  the house leaks.

God has made everything fit beautifully ¹  in its appropriate time, but ²  he has also placed ignorance ³  in the human heart ⁴  so that ⁵  people ⁶  cannot discover what God has ordained, ⁷  from the beginning to the end ⁸  of their lives. ⁹ 

Then that wealth was lost through bad luck; ¹  although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him. ² 

Consider the work of God: For who can make straight what he has bent?

The Teacher says: I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item.

When you make a vow ¹  to God, do not delay in paying it. ²  For God ³  takes no pleasure in fools: Pay what you vow!

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

I thought to myself, ¹  “I have become much wiser ²  than any of my predecessors who ruled ³  over Jerusalem; ⁴  I ⁵  have acquired much wisdom and knowledge.” ⁶ 

I purchased male and female slaves, and I owned slaves who were born in my house; ¹  I also possessed more livestock – both herds and flocks – than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem. ² 

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!

I tried ¹  to understand, examine, and comprehend ²  the role of ³  wisdom in the scheme of things, ⁴  and to understand the stupidity of wickedness ⁵  and the insanity of folly. ⁶ 

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