Ecclesiastes - The Old Testament

¹ Be in no hurry to speak; do not hastily declare yourself before God; for God is in heaven, you on earth. Be sparing, then, of speech:

² From too much worrying comes illusion, from too much talking, the accents of folly.

³ If you make a vow to God, discharge it without delay, for God has no love for fools. Discharge your vow.

⁴ Better a vow unmade than made and not discharged.

⁵ Do not allow your mouth to make a sinner of you, and do not say to the messenger that it was a mistake. Why give God occasion to be angry with you and ruin all the work that you have done?

⁶ From too many illusions come futility and too much talk. Therefore, fear God.

⁷ If in a province you see the poor oppressed, fair judgement and justice violated, do not be surprised, for over every official there watches a higher official, and over these, higher officials still.

⁸ But what the land yields is for the benefit of all, a king is served by the fields.

⁹ No one who loves money ever has enough, no one who loves luxury has any income; this, too, is futile.

¹⁰ Where goods abound, parasites abound: where is the owner's profit, apart from feasting his eyes?

¹¹ The labourer's sleep is sweet, whether he has eaten little or much, but the surfeit of the rich will not let him sleep at all.

¹² Something grossly unjust I observe under the sun: riches stored and turning to loss for their owner.

¹³ An unlucky venture, and those riches are lost; a son is born to him, and he has nothing to leave him.

¹⁴ Naked from his mother's womb he came; as naked as he came will he depart; not one of his achievements can he take with him.

¹⁵ And something else grossly unjust: that as he came, so must he go; what profit can he show after toiling to earn the wind,

¹⁶ as he spends the rest of his days in darkness, mourning, many sorrows, sickness and exasperation.

¹⁷ So my conclusion is this: true happiness lies in eating and drinking and enjoying whatever has been achieved under the sun, throughout the life given by God: for this is the lot of humanity.

¹⁸ And whenever God gives someone riches and property, with the ability to enjoy them and to find contentment in work, this is a gift from God.

¹⁹ For such a person will hardly notice the passing of time, so long as God keeps his heart occupied with joy.