1 For all this I set my mind to examine {lavur: to examine} each of these things: the righteous, the wise, and their deeds are in the hand of God {Elohim, Sovereign Upholder}. Moreover, neither love nor hatred does a person know—all lies before them.
2 Everything happens alike for everyone: one event comes to the righteous{tzaddiq: upright one} and to the wicked, to the good and to the pure, to the impure, to the one who sacrifices and to the one who does not sacrifice; as the good, so the sinner; the one who swears a vow is like the one who fears an oath{oath-fearer: shevuah yare: reverent of oaths}.
3 This is evil in all that is done under the sun, for one event comes to all; and the heart of the sons of man is full of evil {ra: moral corruption}, and madness {holelot: irrational folly} fills their heart during their lives, and after that they go to the dead.
4 For whoever is joined with all the living there is hope {bittachon: secure future}; for a living dog {kelev: lowly animal} is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; and there is no longer any reward {sakhar: wages, recompense} for them, for their memory {zikram: remembrance, ongoing legacy} is forgotten.
6 Also their love, also their hatred, and also their envy, have already perished {avadah: final destruction}; and a portion is no longer theirs forever in everything that is done under the sun {shemesh: visible heavens}.
7 Go on your way: eat your bread with gladness, and drink your wine with a good heart, for God {ha-Elohim, Gracious Approver} has already accepted your works {ma’asekha: deeds and actions}.
8 Let your garments be white at all times, and let oil not be lacking upon your head {rosh: emblem of dignity}.
9 See life with the wife whom you love all the days of the life of your vanity {hevel: futile striving} that He {God, Giver of Days} has given you under the sun—all the days of your vanity—for this is your portion in life and in your labor that you toil under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand {yadkha: capacity for action} happens to find to do, do it with all your strength; for there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol {sheol: realm of the dead}, where you are going.
11 I turned back and observed under the sun: the swift {kalim: fastest competitors} do not always win the race, and the mighty do not always win the battle; the wise do not always receive bread, and the discerning do not always gain riches, and those who know do not always gain favor; for time and chance {pega: unexpected occurrence} meet them all.
12 No person can know his own time: like fish caught in a harmful {ra’ah: destructive} net and birds taken in the snare, so the sons of man are caught in an evil season when it descends upon them suddenly {pit’om: abruptly}.
13 Also, this wisdom {chokhmah: wise insight} I saw under the sun, and great {ugedolah: impressive magnitude} it was to me.
14 There was a little city, and few men {me'at: small in number} within it; and a great king came against it, encircled it, and built great siegeworks {metzodim: fortifications for attack} upon it.
15 Someone discovered a poor {misken: destitute} yet wise man in the city, and he rescued {milat: rescued from peril} the city by his wisdom; nevertheless, no one remembered that poor man.
16 Then I said, “Insight {chochmah: skillful understanding} outweighs force {gevurah: physical might}; yet the insight of the destitute is scorned, and their words go unheeded.”
17 The words of wise men {chachamim: those possessing discernment} are heard in silence more than the outcry of a ruler {moshel: exercising authority} among fools.
18 Wisdom holds greater sway than weapons of war, yet a solitary sinner {chote: habitual offender} can undo abundant good {tovah: beneficial outcomes}.