I also amassed silver and gold for myself, as well as valuable treasures ¹  taken from kingdoms and provinces. ²  I acquired male singers and female singers for myself, and what gives a man sensual delight ³  – a harem of beautiful concubines! ⁴ 

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?

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 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.

Who really knows if the human spirit ¹  ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

So I perceived there is nothing better than for people ¹  to enjoy their work, ²  because that is their ³  reward; for who can show them what the future holds? ⁴ 

Whatever has happened was foreordained, ¹  and what happens to a person ²  was also foreknown. It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate because God is more powerful than he is. ³ 

It is better to go to a funeral ¹  than a feast. ²  For death ³  is the destiny ⁴  of every person, ⁵  and the living should ⁶  take this ⁷  to heart.

What I have continually sought, I have not found; I have found only ¹  one upright ²  man among a thousand, but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.

Who is ¹  a ²  wise person? Who knows the solution ³  to a problem? ⁴  A person’s wisdom brightens his appearance, ⁵  and softens ⁶  his harsh countenance. ⁷ 

When ¹  a sentence ²  is not executed ³  at once against a crime, ⁴  the human heart ⁵  is encouraged to do evil. ⁶ 

However, a poor but wise man lived in the city, ¹  and he could have delivered ²  the city by his wisdom, but no one listened ³  to that poor man.

yet a fool keeps on babbling. ¹  No one knows what will happen; who can tell him what will happen in the future? ² 

So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness ¹  will be many – all that is about to come is obscure. ² 

Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: ¹  Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty ²  of man.

At that time ¹  men will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made for themselves to worship, ²  into the caves where rodents and bats live, ³ 

I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated,

The Egyptians are mere humans, not God; their horses are made of flesh, not spirit. The Lord will strike with ¹  his hand; the one who helps will stumble and the one being helped will fall. Together they will perish. ²