| For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. | There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. |
| Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. | He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. |
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| So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. | I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. |
| Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind. | And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. |
| Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. | Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. |
| If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. | If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. |
| A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. | Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. |
| When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. | When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. |
| Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! | Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. |
| The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! | As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? |
| We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. | Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. |
| Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. | This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. |
| And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. | Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. |
| Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise. | Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. |
| Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. | When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. |
| When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. | When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. |
| So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! | Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. |
| Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. | Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips. |
| Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. | As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. |
| So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. | So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. |
| Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” | Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”. |
| That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. | Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. |
| The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow. | For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. |
