I thought to myself, ¹  “Come now, ²  I will try ³  self-indulgent pleasure ⁴  to see ⁵  if it is worthwhile.” ⁶  But I found ⁷  that it also is futile. ⁸ 

Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished ¹  and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, ²  I concluded: ³  “All these ⁴  achievements and possessions ⁵  are ultimately ⁶  profitless ⁷  – like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained ⁸  from them ⁹  on earth.”

Next, I decided to consider ¹  wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas. ²  For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king ³  has already done?

The wise man can see where he is going, ¹  but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that the same fate ²  happens to them both. ³ 

So I loathed all the fruit of ¹  my effort, ²  for which I worked so hard ³  on earth, ⁴  because ⁵  I must leave it ⁶  behind ⁷  in the hands of my successor. ⁸ 

There is nothing better for ¹  people ²  than ³  to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment ⁴  in their ⁵  work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment ⁶  comes from God. ⁷ 

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 ¹  for every deed.

I also thought to myself, “It is ¹  for the sake of people, ²  so God can clearly ³  show ⁴  them that they are like animals.

I tried ¹  to understand, examine, and comprehend ²  the role of ³  wisdom in the scheme of things, ⁴  and to understand the stupidity of wickedness ⁵  and the insanity of folly. ⁶ 

I arose to open for my beloved; my hands dripped with myrrh – my fingers flowed with myrrh on the handles of the lock.

I opened for my beloved, but my lover had already turned ¹  and gone away. ²  I fell into despair ³  when he departed. ⁴  I looked for him but did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.

The Beloved to the Maidens: O maidens of Jerusalem, I command you – If you find my beloved, what will you tell him? Tell him that I am lovesick! ¹ 

Now I will inform you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, ¹  I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. ² 

Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹  men of ²  Israel. I am helping you,” says the Lord, your protector, ³  the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched from thirst. I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ¹  I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass ¹  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm ²  you.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, ¹  your deliverer. I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price, Ethiopia and Seba ²  in place of you.

One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’ and another will use ¹  the name ‘Jacob.’ One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and use the name ‘Israel.’” ² 

This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says, their protector, ¹  the Lord who commands armies: “I am the first and I am the last, there is no God but me.

I will give you hidden treasures, ¹  riches stashed away in secret places, so you may recognize that I am the Lord, the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.