God

What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.

If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.

Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?

In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.