¹⁸ Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.

⁶ Truly, every man goes on his way like an image; he is troubled for no purpose: he makes a great store of wealth, and has no knowledge of who will get it.

¹⁰ For he sees that wise men come to their end, and foolish persons of low behaviour come to destruction together, letting their wealth go to others.

¹⁰ In the measure of the grace given to me, I, as a wise master-builder, have put the base in position, and another goes on building on it. But let every man take care what he puts on it.

²⁹ I am conscious that after I am gone, evil wolves will come in among you, doing damage to the flock;

³⁰ And from among yourselves will come men who will give wrong teaching, turning away the disciples after them.

²⁷ And he said, Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father's house;

²⁸ For I have five brothers; and let him give them an account of these things, so that they may not come to this place of pain.

²⁰ But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together?

⁹ Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.

¹⁸ Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.

¹³ And I saw the destruction of his wealth by an evil chance; and when he became the father of a son he had nothing in his hand.

¹⁴ As he came from his mother at birth, so does he go again; he gets from his work no reward which he may take away in his hand.

³ Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.

²⁶ To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

⁴ I undertook great works, building myself houses and planting vine-gardens.

⁵ I made myself gardens and fruit gardens, planting in them fruit-trees of all sorts.

⁶ I made pools to give water for the woods with their young trees.

⁷ I got men-servants and women-servants, and they gave birth to sons and daughters in my house. I had great wealth of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

⁸ I got together silver and gold and the wealth of kings and of countries. I got makers of song, male and female; and the delights of the sons of men--girls of all sorts to be my brides.

⁹ And I became great; increasing more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom was still with me.

¹³ And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.

³ What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?

¹⁴ With your hand, O Lord, from men, even men of the world, whose heritage is in this life, and whom you make full with your secret wealth: they are full of children; after their death their offspring take the rest of their goods.

¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, Because you have done this, and have not kept my agreement and my laws, which I gave you, I will take the kingdom away from you by force and will give it to your servant.

¹² I will not do it in your life-time, because of your father David, but I will take it from your son.

¹³ Still I will not take all the kingdom from him; but I will give one tribe to your son, because of my servant David, and because of Jerusalem, the town of my selection.