Do not bring any more meaningless ¹  offerings; I consider your incense detestable! ²  You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations, but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ³ 

Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. ¹  Therefore, fear God!

Though the stillborn child ¹  came into the world ²  for no reason ³  and departed into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness, ⁴ 

Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. ¹ 

All the nations are insignificant before him; they are regarded as absolutely nothing. ¹ 

He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.

Enjoy ¹  life with your beloved wife ²  during all the days of your fleeting ³  life that God ⁴  has given you on earth ⁵  during all your fleeting days; ⁶  for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work ⁷  on earth. ⁸ 

Yet all of this fails to satisfy me so long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

The one who loves money ¹  will never be satisfied with money, ²  he who loves wealth ³  will never be satisfied ⁴  with his ⁵  income. This also is futile.

Banish ¹  emotional stress ²  from your mind. ³  and put away pain ⁴  from your body; ⁵  for youth ⁶  and the prime of life ⁷  are fleeting. ⁸ 

When ¹  you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard.

For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. ¹ 

And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

I do not set aside ¹  God’s grace, because if righteousness ²  could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! ³ 

Now, brothers and sisters, ¹  if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? ²  In that case the offense of the cross ³  has been removed. ⁴ 

For to the one who pleases him, ¹  God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing ²  wealth ³  – only to give ⁴  it ⁵  to the one who pleases God. This ⁶  task of the wicked ⁷  is futile – like chasing the wind!

For the fate of humans ¹  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.

A man who is all alone with no companion, ¹  he has no children nor siblings; ²  yet there is no end to all his toil, and he ³  is never satisfied with riches. He laments, ⁴  “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself ⁵  of pleasure?” ⁶  This also is futile and a burdensome task! ⁷ 

God gives a man riches, property, and wealth so that he lacks nothing that his heart ¹  desires, ²  yet God does not enable ³  him to enjoy ⁴  the fruit of his labor ⁵  – instead, someone else ⁶  enjoys ⁷  it! ⁸  This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. ⁹