| There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven. | To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. |
| He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. | He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. |
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| I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God. | I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. |
| I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a person and his neighbor. This too is futility and striving after wind. | Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. |
| Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. | Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. |
| For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up! | For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. |
| And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. | And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. |
| When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! | When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. |
| One who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor one who loves abundance with its income. This too is futility. | He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. |
| When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look at them? | When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? |
| As he came naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. | As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. |
| Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink, and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. | Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. |
| Furthermore, as for every person to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also given him the opportunity to enjoy them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. | Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. |
| Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. | Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this. |
| On the day of prosperity be happy, But on the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other So that a person will not discover anything that will come after him. | In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him. |
| Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of mankind among them are fully given to do evil. | Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. |
| Go then, eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. | Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. |
| Words from the mouth of a wise person are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him. | The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. |
| Just as you do not know the path of the wind, and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes everything. | As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. |
| So remove sorrow from your heart and keep pain away from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting. | Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. |
| Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years approach when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”. | Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. |
| The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. | Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. |
| Because in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. | For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. |
