Ecclesiastes 1:17

1:17 So I decided to discern the benefit of wisdom and knowledge over foolish behavior and ideas;

however, I concluded that even this endeavor is like trying to chase the wind!

Ecclesiastes 2:10

2:10 I did not restrain myself from getting whatever I wanted;

I did not deny myself anything that would bring me pleasure.

So all my accomplishments gave me joy;

this was my reward for all my effort.

Ecclesiastes 2:19

2:19 Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?

Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor

for which I worked so wisely on earth!

This also is futile!

Ecclesiastes 3:11

3:11 God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time,

but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart

so that people cannot discover what God has ordained,

from the beginning to the end of their lives.

Ecclesiastes 3:14

God’s Sovereignty

3:14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;

nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.

God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

3:19 For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same:

As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath.

There is no advantage for humans over animals,

for both are fleeting.

Ecclesiastes 4:1

Evil Oppression on Earth

4:1 So I again considered all the oppression that continually occurs on earth.

This is what I saw:

The oppressed were in tears, but no one was comforting them;

no one delivers them from the power of their oppressors.

Ecclesiastes 5:6

5:6 Do not let your mouth cause you to sin,

and do not tell the priest, “It was a mistake!”

Why make God angry at you

so that he would destroy the work of your hands?”

Ecclesiastes 7:14

7:14 In times of prosperity be joyful,

but in times of adversity consider this:

God has made one as well as the other,

so that no one can discover what the future holds.

Ecclesiastes 8:10

Contradictions to the Law of Retribution

8:10 Not only that, but I have seen the wicked approaching and entering the temple,

and as they left the holy temple, they

boasted in the city that they had done so.

This also is an enigma.

Ecclesiastes 10:10

10:10 If an iron axhead is blunt and a workman does not sharpen its edge,

he must exert a great deal of effort;

so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

11:5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman,

so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

Ecclesiastes 11:8

11:8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all,

but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many – all that is about to come is obscure.

Ecclesiastes 12:1

Fear God Now Because Old Age and Death Come Quickly

12:1 So remember your Creator in the days of your youth –

before the difficult days come,

and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;