⁹ What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

¹⁴ I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.

²⁰ For in the past, your yoke was broken by your hands and your cords parted; and you said, I will not be your servant; for on every high hill and under every branching tree, your behaviour was like that of a loose woman

⁹ Have joy, O young man, while you are young; and let your heart be glad in the days of your strength, and go in the ways of your heart, and in the desire of your eyes; but be certain that for all these things God will be your judge.

² A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.

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.

⁴ And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

¹² I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.

¹³ And for every man to take food and drink, and have joy in all his work, is a reward from God.

²² What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?

²³ All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is to no purpose.

²⁴ There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.

¹¹ Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

² All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.

¹⁵ The night-spirit has two daughters, Give, give. There are three things which are never full, even four which never say, Enough:

¹⁶ The underworld, and the woman without a child; the earth which never has enough water, and the fire which never says, Enough.

⁷ If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands;