1:10 Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”?
It was already done long ago, before our time.
2:12 Next, I decided to consider wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas.
For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king has already done?
2:14 The wise man can see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I also realized that the same fate happens to them both.
2:15 So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me!
Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?”
So I lamented to myself,
“The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!”
2:16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long,
because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten.
Alas, the wise man dies – just like the fool!
2:18 So I loathed all the fruit of my effort,
for which I worked so hard on earth,
because I must leave it behind in the hands of my successor.
3:15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been;
for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.
3:17 I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked;
for there is an appropriate time for every activity,
and there is a time of judgment for every deed.
3:18 I also thought to myself, “It is for the sake of people,
so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.
5:10 The one who loves money will never be satisfied with money,
he who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income.
This also is futile.
5:20 For he does not think much about the fleeting days of his life
because God keeps him preoccupied with the joy he derives from his activity.
6:10 Whatever has happened was foreordained,
and what happens to a person was also foreknown.
It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate
because God is more powerful than he is.
7:16 So do not be excessively righteous or excessively wise;
otherwise you might be disappointed.
7:21 Also, do not pay attention to everything that people say;
otherwise, you might even hear your servant cursing you.
9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything;
they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears.
11:10 Banish emotional stress from your mind.
and put away pain from your body;
for youth and the prime of life are fleeting.
12:6 before the silver cord is removed,
or the golden bowl is broken,
or the pitcher is shattered at the well,
or the water wheel is broken at the cistern –