Ecclesiastes

The words of the Preacher...

Chapter 1

  1. The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.  (Prov. 1:1)
  2. "Vanity of vanities," says the preacher;
    "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."  (Eccl. 2:1;   Rom. 8:20-21)
  3. What profit has a man from all his labour in which he toils under the sun?  (Eccl. 2:22;   Eccl. 3:9;   Eccl. 5:16)
  4. One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever.
  5. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,  (Ps. 19:4-6)  and hastens to the place where it arose.
  6. The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit.  (John 3:8)
  8. All things are full of labour; man cannot express it.  The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.  (Prov. 27:20)
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Chapter 2

  1. I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure;" but surely, this also was vanity.   (Luke 12:19;   Eccl. 1:2)
  2. I said of laughter, "It is madness;" and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"  (Prov. 14:13)
  3. I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my hear with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.   (Eccl. 1:17)
  4. I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.  (1 Kin. 7:1-12;  Prov. 17:24)
  5. I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
  16. For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.  And how does a wise man die?  As the fool!  (Eccl. 1:11;   Eccl. 3:19;   Eccl. 4:16)
  23. For all his days are sorrowful, and his work grievous; even in the night his heart takes no rest.  This also is vanity.  (Job 5:7;   Job 14:1)
  26. For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God.  This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.  (Job 27:17;   Prov. 13:22)
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Chapter 3

  1. To everything there is a season,
    a time for every purpose under heaven:  (Eccl. 3:17;   Eccl. 8:6)
  2. A time to be born, and a time to die;
    a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;  (Heb. 9:27)
  11. He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.  (Job 11:7;   Rom. 11:33)      (PASS ON TO A FRIEND)
  19. For what happens to the sons of men also happens to beasts; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other.  Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over beasts, for all is vanity.  (Ps. 49:20;   Eccl. 2:16)
  20. All go to one place:  all are from the dust, and all return to dust.  (Gen. 3:19)
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Chapter 4

  1. Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun:  (Eccl. 3:16;   Eccl. 5:8)
      2. And look!  The tears of the oppressed, but they have no comforter -
      On the side of their oppressors there was power, but they have no comforter.
  2. Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, more than the living who are still alive.  (Job 3:17&18)
    8. There is one alone, without companion:  He has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labours, nor is his eye satisfied with riches (1 John 2:16)
      But he never asks, "For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?"
      This also is vanity and a grave misfortune.  (Prov. 27:20)
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Chapter 5

  1. Walk proudly when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.  (Ex. 3:5;   1 Sam. 15:22)
  2. Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.  For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.  (Prov. 20:25;   Matt. 6:7)
  3. For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words.  (Prov. 10:19)
  4. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it;
    (Num. 30:2;   Ps. 22:25;   Ps. 66:13&14)
    for He has no pleasure in fools.  Pay what you have vowed.
  5. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay.  (Acts 5:4)
  8. If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.  (Ex. 23:6)
  13. There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:  riches kept for their owner to his hurt.  (Eccl. 6:1-2)
  14. But those riches perish through misfortune; when he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
  15. As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return, to go as he came; and he shall take nothing from his labour which he may carry away in his hand.  (Job 1:21;   Job 20:20;   1 Tim. 6:7)
  16. And this also is a severe evil, that just exactly as he came, so shall he go.  And what profit has he who has laboured for the wind?  (Eccl. 1:3;  Prov. 11:29)
  17. All his days he also eats in darkness (Ps. 127:2), and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.
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Chapter 6

  1. There
  7. All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied.  (Prov. 16:26)
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Chapter 7

  1. A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one's birth.  (Prov. 22:1)
  2. It is better to go the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart.  (Ps. 90.12)
  19. Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten rulers of the city.  (Prov. 8:14;   Prov. 21:22;   Eccl. 9:16)
  24. As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, who can find it out?  (Job 28:12;   Rom. 11:33)
  25. I applied my heart to know, to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.  (Eccl. 1:17)
  26. And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets (Prov. 5:3&4), whose hands are fetters.  He who pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.  (Prov. 22:14)
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Chapter 8

  1. Who is like a wise man?

    2. And who knows the interpretation of things?  A man's wisdom makes his face shine (Acts 6:15), and the sternness of his face is changed.
  4.         Where the word of a king is, there is power,
  7.         For he does not know what will happen;
            so who can tell him when it will occur? (Eccl. 6:12;   Eccl. 9:12)
  10. Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done.  This also is vanity.  (Prov. 10:7;   Eccl. 2:16;   Eccl. 9:5)
  11. Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.  (Is. 26:10;   Ps. 10:6)
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Chapter 9

  1. For I consider all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all:  that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God.  People know neither love nor hatred by anything that is before them.
  2. Everything occurs alike to all:
      One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
      to the good, the clean, and the unclean;
      to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
      As is the good, so is the sinner;
      and he who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.  (Job 21:26)
  3. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun:  that one thing happens to all.  Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
  4. But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
    5. For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.  (Eccl. 8:10;   Is. 26:14;   Is. 63:16)
    6. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun.
    7. Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart;  (Eccl. 8:15)  for God has already accepted your works.
    8. Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil.
  9. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labour which you perform under the sun.  (Eccl. 2:10)
  10. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.  (Ps. 6:5)
  11. I returned and saw under the sun that - -  (Amos 2:14-15)
      The race is not to the swift,
      nor the battle to the strong,
      nor bread to the wise,
      nor riches to men of understanding,
      nor favour to men of skill;
      but time and chance happen to them all.  (1 Sam. 6:9)
    12. For man also does not know his time:
      like fish taken in a cruel net,
      like birds caught in a snare,
      so the sons of men are snared in an evil time,
      when it falls suddenly upon them.  (Job 1:13;   Prov. 7:23;   Prov. 8:14;   Prov. 29:6;   Eccl. 8:7)
  13. This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me:
  14. There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built a great snare around it.
  15. Now there was found in it a  poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city.  Yet no one remembered that same poor man.
  16. Then I said:
       "Wisdom is better than strength.  (Eccl. 7:12,   Eccl. 7:19;   Prov. 8:14)
       Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised (Mark 6:2&3), and his words are not heard.
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Chapter 10

  1. Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odour; So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honour.
  2. A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left.
  3. Even when a fool walks along the way, he lacks wisdom, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.  (Prov. 13:16;   _18:2)
  4. If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post; for conciliation pacifies great offences.
  5. There is an evil I have seen under the sun, as an error proceeding from the ruler:
  6. Folly is set in great dignity, while the rich sit in a lowly place.  (Esth. 3:10)
  7. I have seen servants on horses (Prov. 19:10;   _30:22), while princes walk on the ground like servants.
  8. He who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.  (Prov. 26:27)
  9. He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits wood may be endangered by it.
  10. If the axe is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success.
  11. A serpent may bite when it is not charmed (Jer. 8:17); the babbler is not different.
  12. The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;  (Prov. 10:32;   Prov. 18:7)
  16. Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! (Prov. 28:16;   Is. 3:4&5;   Is. 5:11)
  17. Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes feast at the proper time - for strength and not for drunkenness!  (Prov. 31:4)
  18. Because of laziness the building decays, and through idleness of hands the house leaks.
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Chapter 11

  1. Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.  (Deut. 15:10;   Is. 32:20)    (*!*)
  5. As you co not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes all things.  (Ps. 139:14;   John 3:8)
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Chapter 12

  1. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, (Lam. 3:27)
    before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, (2 Sam. 19:35)
    "I have no pleasure in them":    (*!*)
  2. While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain;
  3. In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down; when the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim;
  4. When the doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low; when one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of music are brought low;
  5. Also when they are afraid of height, and of terrors in the way; when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails.  For man goes to his eternal home  (Job 16:22;   Job 17:13)  and the mourners go about the streets.  (Jer. 9:17)
  13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
      Fear God and keep His commandments,
      for this is the whole duty of man.
      (Deut. 6:2;   Deut. 10:12;   Ps. 111:10)      PASS ON TO A FRIEND
  14. For God will bring every work into judgement,
    including every secret thing,
    whether it is good or whether it is evil.  (Matt. 12:36)      !!! PASS ON TO A FRIEND!!!
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Last Updated October 25, 2009 by A Servant