3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
3:19 For that which befallen the sons of men befallen beasts; even one thing befallen them: as the one diet, so diet the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
3:21 Who knows: the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?
3:22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
4
4:1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
4:2. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
4:3 Yea, better is he then both they, which hath not yet been who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
4:5 The fool folded his hands together, and eats his own flesh.
4:6 Better is a handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
4:7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labor; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, for whom do I labor, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor.
4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he fillet; for he hath not another to help him up.
4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
4:13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
4:14 For out of prison he comed to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom become poor.
4:15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
4:16 There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
5
5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
5:4 Better not to promise you, than to promise and not to execute.
5:5 Better is it that thou shoulders not vow, than that thou shouldʹs vow and not pay.
5:6 Suffer not is thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither says thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
5:7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also diver’s vanities: is but fear thou God.
5:8 If thou see the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regarded; and there be higher than they.
5:9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for alclass="underline" the king himself is served by the field.
5:10 He that loved silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loved abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
5:11 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?
5:12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
5:13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
5:14 But those riches perish by evil travaiclass="underline" and he begetter a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
5:15 As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.
5:16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind?
5:17 All his days also he eater in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
5:18 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 labor that he take under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him: for it is his portion.