Ecclesiastes (Kohelet)

2 alone? If one man should assault another, then two can stand against him; and a three-stranded thread is not readily broken. 13 Better a poor and clever child, than an old and foolish king, who does not 14 know how to take heed any more. For he may come straight out of prison to 15 - rule; and in his reign too, a poor child will be born. Yes, I sawall of life moving 16 about beneath the sun, with the next child born to rise up after the last. There is no end to this people, to all that came before them; and those who come after them also, will not rejoice in him. This too: shallow breath; courting the wind. 17 Watch your steps when you walk to the House of God. Better to take heed than to bring a 0018 offering; for they know not what doing wrong means. 51 Do not hasten your lips, do not hurry your heart, to bring forth words in the presence of God; for God is in heaven, and you are here on earth; and so let 2 your words be few. For as dreams come of too much preoccupation, so is a fool’s voice known by too many words. 3 Ifyou make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it; for there is no use being a 4 fool - whatever you vow, fulfill. Better not to vow, than to vow and not fulfill. 5 Do not let your mouth bring your flesh to punishment; and do not tell the messenger that it was a mistake; why should you have God rage at your words, 6 and destroy the work of your hands? For so many dreams and so much shal- low breath, so many words — better only to fear God. 7 Ifyou see oppression of a poor person, or any perversion of law and justice in the province — do not wonder at the fact; for every watchman has a watchman 8 over him, and there are higher ones yet above. Yet the earth below has the advantage over all; even a king is enslaved to the field. 9 One who loves money will never be satisfied with money; nor one who loves 10 abundance, with produce. That too is fleeting breath. As goodness multiplies, so do those who would consume it; and what gain does it bring its master but 11 longing eyes? The sleep of a worker is sweet, whether he eats much or little, but the rich man’s fullness will not let him sleep in peace. 12. There is a sickly evil I have seen beneath the sun: wealth hoarded up for its 13 owner, only to harm him. That wealth may be destroyed by some evil event, 14 and a child is born to him with not the smallest thing to his name. Naked as he emerged from his own mother’s womb, just so will he return. And not the slightest thing will he hold from all his labor to bring with him. 1s. This too is a sickly evil; just as one comes, so shall one leave again. And what 16 profit does one gain for toiling after the wind? All his days he eats in darkness, and with great bitterness, and sickness, and fury.