Kohelet - a Fresh (Unusual) Voice in Tanakh - Part I

(1) The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem. (2) Utter futility!—said Koheleth—
Utter futility! All is futile!
(3) What real value is there for a man
In all the gains he makes beneath the sun? (4) One generation goes, another comes,
But the earth remains the same forever. (5) The sun rises, and the sun sets—
And glides back to where it rises. (6) Southward blowing,
Turning northward,
Ever turning blows the wind;
On its rounds the wind returns. (7) All streams flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is never full;
To the place [from] which they flow
The streams flow back again. (8) All such things are wearisome:
No man can ever state them;
The eye never has enough of seeing,
Nor the ear enough of hearing. (9) Only that shall happen
Which has happened,
Only that occur
Which has occurred;
There is nothing new
Beneath the sun!
(10) Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say, “Look, this one is new!”—it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us. (11) The earlier ones are not remembered; so too those that will occur later will no more be remembered than^-e those that will occur at the very end.
(12) I, Koheleth, was king in Jerusalem over Israel. (13) I set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom all that happens under the sun.—An unhappy business, that, which God gave men to be concerned with! (14) I observed all the happenings beneath the sun, and I found that all is futile and pursuit of wind: (15) A twisted thing that cannot be made straight,
A lack that cannot be made good. (16) I said to myself: “Here I have grown richer and wiser than any that ruled before me over Jerusalem, and my mind has zealously absorbed wisdom and learning.” (17) And so I set my mind to appraise wisdom and to appraise madness and folly. And I learned—that this too was pursuit of wind: (18) For as wisdom grows, vexation grows;
To increase learning is to increase heartache.

CHAPTER 2

(1) I said to myself, “Come, I will treat you to merriment. Taste mirth!” That too, I found, was futile. (2) Of revelry I said, “It’s mad!”
Of merriment, “What good is that?”
(3) I ventured to tempt my flesh with wine, and to grasp folly, while letting my mind direct with wisdom, to the end that I might learn which of the two was better for men to practice in their few days of life under heaven. (4) I multiplied my possessions. I built myself houses and I planted vineyards. (5) I laid out gardens and groves, in which I planted every kind of fruit tree. (6) I constructed pools of water, enough to irrigate a forest shooting up with trees. (7) I bought male and female slaves, and I acquired stewards. I also acquired more cattle, both herds and flocks, than all who were before me in Jerusalem. (8) I further amassed silver and gold and treasures of kings and provinces; and I got myself male and female singers, as well as the luxuries of commoners—coffers and coffers of them. (9) Thus, I gained more wealth than anyone before me in Jerusalem. In addition, my wisdom remained with me: (10) I withheld from my eyes nothing they asked for, and denied myself no enjoyment; rather, I got enjoyment out of all my wealth. And that was all I got out of my wealth. (11) Then my thoughts turned to all the fortune my hands had built up, to the wealth I had acquired and won—and oh, it was all futile and pursuit of wind; there was no real value under the sun! (12) For what will the man be like who will succeed the one who is ruling^-d over what was built up long ago?
My thoughts also turned to appraising wisdom and madness and folly. (13) I found that Wisdom is superior to folly As light is superior to darkness; (14) A wise man has his eyes in his head, Whereas a fool walks in darkness. But I also realized that the same fate awaits them both. (15) So I reflected: “The fate of the fool is also destined for me; to what advantage, then, have I been wise?” And I came to the conclusion that that too was futile, (16) because the wise man, just like the fool, is not remembered forever; for, as the succeeding days roll by, both are forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies, just like^-e the fool! (17) And so I loathed life. For I was distressed by all that goes on under the sun, because everything is futile and pursuit of wind. (18) So, too, I loathed all the wealth that I was gaining under the sun. For I shall leave it to the man who will succeed me— (19) and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish?—and he will control all the wealth that I gained by toil and wisdom under the sun. That too is futile. (20) And so I came to view with despair all the gains I had made under the sun. (21) For sometimes a person whose fortune was made with wisdom, knowledge, and skill must hand it on to be the portion of somebody who did not toil for it. That too is futile, and a grave evil. (22) For what does a man get for all the toiling and worrying he does under the sun? (23) All his days his thoughts are grief and heartache, and even at night his mind has no respite. That too is futile! (24) There is nothing worthwhile for a man but to eat and drink and afford himself enjoyment with his means. And even that, I noted, comes from God. (25) For who eats and who enjoys but myself? (26) To the man, namely, who pleases Him He has given the wisdom and shrewdness to enjoy himself;^-g and to him who displeases, He has given the urge to gather and amass—only for handing on to one who is pleasing to God. That too is futile and pursuit of wind.

CHAPTER 3

(1) A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven: (2) A time for being born^-b and a time for dying,
A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted; (3) A time for slaying and a time for healing,^-c
A time for tearing down and a time for building up; (4) A time for weeping and a time for laughing,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing; (5) A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces; (6) A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding; (7) A time for ripping and a time for sewing,
A time for silence and a time for speaking; (8) A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war and a time for peace. (9) What value, then, can the man of affairs get from what he earns? (10) I have observed the business that God gave man to be concerned with: (11) He brings everything to pass precisely at its time; He also puts eternity in their mind, but without man ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass. (12) Thus I realized that the only worthwhile thing there is for them is to enjoy themselves and do what is good in their lifetime; (13) also, that whenever a man does eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all his wealth, it is a gift of God. (14) I realized, too, that whatever God has brought to pass will recur evermore:
Nothing can be added to it
And nothing taken from it—
and God has brought to pass that men revere Him. (15) What is occurring occurred long since, And what is to occur occurred long since: and God seeks the pursued. (16) And, indeed, I have observed under the sun:
Alongside justice there is wickedness,
Alongside righteousness there is wickedness. (17) I mused: “God will doom both righteous and wicked, for there is^-g a time for every experience and for every happening.” (18) So I decided, as regards men, to dissociate them [from] the divine beings and to face the fact that they are beasts. (19) For in respect of the fate of man and the fate of beast, they have one and the same fate: as the one dies so dies the other, and both have the same lifebreath; man has no superiority over beast, since both amount to nothing. (20) Both go to the same place; both came from dust and both return to dust. (21) Who knows if a man’s lifebreath does rise upward and if a beast’s breath does sink down into the earth? (22) I saw that there is nothing better for man than to enjoy his possessions, since that is his portion. For who can enable him to see what will happen afterward?

CHAPTER 4

(1) I further observed all the oppression that goes on under the sun: the tears of the oppressed, with none to comfort them; and the power of their oppressors—with none to comfort them.

(17) Be not overeager to go to the House of God: more acceptable is obedience than the offering of fools, for they know nothing [but] to do wrong.

CHAPTER 5

(1) Keep your mouth from being rash, and let not your throat be quick to bring forth speech before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; that is why your words should be few. (2) Just as dreams come with much brooding, so does foolish utterance come with much speech. (3) When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. For He has no pleasure in fools; what you vow, fulfill. (4) It is better not to vow at all than to vow and not fulfill. (5) Don’t let your mouth bring you into disfavor, and don’t plead before the messenger that it was an error, but fear God;^-c else God may be angered by your talk and destroy your possessions. (6) For much dreaming leads to futility and to superfluous talk.
(7) If you see in a province oppression of the poor and suppression of right and justice, don’t wonder at the fact; for one high official is protected by a higher one, and both of them by still higher ones. (8) Thus the greatest advantage in all the land is his: he controls a field that is cultivated.
(9) A lover of money never has his fill of money, nor a lover of wealth his fill of income. That too is futile. (10) As his substance increases, so do those who consume it; what, then, does the success of its owner amount to but feasting his eyes? (11) A worker’s sleep is sweet, whether he has much or little to eat; but the rich man’s abundance doesn’t let him sleep. (12) Here is a grave evil I have observed under the sun: riches hoarded by their owner to his misfortune, (13) in that those riches are lost in some unlucky venture; and if he begets a son, he has nothing in hand. (14) Another grave evil is this: He must depart just as he came.^-g As he came out of his mother’s womb, so must he depart at last, naked as he came. He can take nothing of his wealth to carry with him. (15) So what is the good of his toiling for the wind? (16) Besides, all his days he eats in darkness,^-h with much vexation and grief and anger. (17) Only this, I have found, is a real good: that one should eat and drink and get pleasure with all the gains he makes under the sun, during the numbered days of life that God has given him; for that is his portion. (18) Also, whenever a man is given riches and property by God, and is also permitted by Him to enjoy them and to take his portion and get pleasure for his gains—that is a gift of God. (19) For [such a man] will not brood much over the days of his life, because God keeps him busy enjoying himself. (No chapter 6)

CHAPTER 7

(1) A good name is better than fragrant oil, and the day of death than the day of birth. (2) It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting; for that is the end of every man, and a living one should take it to heart. (3) Vexation is better than revelry; for though the face be sad, the heart may be glad. (4) Wise men are drawn to a house of mourning, and fools to a house of merrymaking. (5) It is better to listen to a wise man’s reproof than to listen to the praise of fools. (6) For the levity of the fool is like the crackling of nettles under a kettle. But that too is illusory; (7) for cheating may rob the wise man of reason and destroy the prudence of the cautious. (8) The end of a matter is better than the beginning of it.
Better a patient spirit than a haughty spirit. (9) Don’t let your spirit be quickly vexed, for vexation abides in the breasts of fools. (10) Don’t say, “How has it happened that former times were better than these?” For it is not wise of you to ask that question. (11) Wisdom is as good as a patrimony, and even better, for those who behold the sun. (12) For to be in the shelter of wisdom is to be also in the shelter of money, and the advantage of intelligence is that wisdom preserves the life of him who possesses it. (13) Consider God’s doing! Who can straighten what He has twisted? (14) So in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time of misfortune, reflect: The one no less than the other was God’s doing; consequently, man may find no fault with Him. (15) In my own brief span of life, I have seen both these things: sometimes a good man perishes in spite of his goodness, and sometimes a wicked one endures in spite of his wickedness. (16) So don’t overdo goodness and don’t act the wise man to excess, or you may be dumfounded. (17) Don’t overdo wickedness and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. (18) It is best that you grasp the one without letting go of the other, for one who fears God will do his duty by both. (19) Wisdom is more of a stronghold to a wise man than ten magnates^-l that a city may contain. (20) For there is not one good man on earth who does what is best and doesn’t err. (21) Finally, don’t pay attention to everything that is said, so that you may not hear your slave reviling you; (22) for well you remember the many times that you yourself have reviled others. (23) All this I tested with wisdom. I thought I could fathom it, but it eludes me. (24) [The secret of] what happens is elusive and deep, deep down; who can discover it? (25) I put my mind to studying, exploring, and seeking wisdom and the reason of things, and to studying wickedness, stupidity, madness, and folly. (26) Now, I find woman more bitter than death; she is all traps, her hands are fetters and her heart is snares. He who is pleasing to God escapes her, and he who is displeasing is caught by her. (27) See, this is what I found, said Koheleth, item by item in my search for the reason of things. (28) As for what I sought further but did not find, I found only one human being in a thousand, and the one I found among so many was never a woman. (29) But, see, this I did find: God made men plain, but they have engaged in too much reasoning.