1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.2 All share a common destiny —the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, "the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.4 Anyone who is among the living has hope "—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.6 Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil.9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun —all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it.15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.16 So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

1 [Omnia hc tractavi in corde meo,ut curiose intelligerem.Sunt justi atque sapientes,et opera eorum in manu Dei ;et tamen nescit homo utrum amore an odio dignus sit.2 Sed omnia in futurum servantur incerta,eo quod universa que eveniant justo et impio,bono et malo, mundo et immundo,immolanti victimas et sacrificia contemnenti.Sicut bonus, sic et peccator ;ut perjurus, ita et ille qui verum dejerat.]3 [Hoc est pessimum inter omnia qu sub sole fiunt :quia eadem cunctis eveniunt.Unde et corda filiorum hominum implentur malitiaet contemptu in vita sua,et post hc ad inferos deducentur.4 Nemo est qui semper vivat, et qui hujus rei habeat fiduciam ;melior est canis vivus leone mortuo.5 Viventes enim sciunt se esse morituros ;mortui vero nihil noverunt amplius,nec habent ultra mercedem,quia oblivioni tradita est memoria eorum.6 Amor quoque, et odium, et invidi simul perierunt ;nec habent partem in hoc sculo,et in opere quod sub sole geritur.7 Vade ergo, et comede in ltitia panem tuum,et bibe cum gaudio vinum tuum,quia Deo placent opera tua.8 Omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida,et oleum de capite tuo non deficiat.9 Perfruere vinum cum uxore quam diligis,cunctis diebus vit instabilitatis tu,qui dati sunt tibi sub sole omni tempore vanitatis tu :hc est enim pars in vitaet in labore tuo quo laboras sub sole.10 Quodcumque facere potest manus tua,instanter operare,quia nec opus, nec ratio, nec sapientia, nec scientiaerunt apud inferos, quo tu properas.]11 [Verti me ad aliud, et vidi sub solenec velocium esse cursum,nec fortium bellum,nec sapientium panem,nec doctorum divitias,nec artificum gratiam ;sed tempus casumque in omnibus.12 Nescit homo finem suum ;sed sicut pisces capiuntur hamo,et sicut aves laqueo comprehenduntur,sic capiuntur homines in tempore malo,cum eis extemplo supervenerit.13 Hanc quoque sub sole vidi sapientiam,et probavi maximam :14 civitas parva, et pauci in ea viri ;venit contra eam rex magnus, et vallavit eam,exstruxitque munitiones per gyrum, et perfecta est obsidio.15 Inventusque est in ea vir pauper et sapiens,et liberavit urbem per sapientiam suam ;et nullus deinceps recordatus est hominis illius pauperis.16 Et dicebam ego meliorem esse sapientiam fortitudine.Quomodo ergo sapientia pauperis contempta est,et verba ejus non sunt audita ?17 Verba sapientium audiuntur in silentio,plus quam clamor principis inter stultos.18 Melior est sapientia quam arma bellica ;et qui in uno peccaverit, multa bona perdet.]