12 "I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem." 13 "I set my mind to discover and explore by wisdom all that has been done under heaven. It is a difficult task with which God has afflicted the sons of men." 14 "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and they are all without meaning. It is like chasing the wind." 15 "What is twisted cannot be straightened. What is lacking cannot be counted."

16 "I said to myself, 'I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has experience great wisdom and knowledge.'" 17 "I set my mind to know wisdom, madness and folly, and realized that even this is striving after the wind." 18 "For in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain."

Ecclesiastes 2 - RWB Paraphrase (26 V)
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The King Finds Pleasures To Be Meaningless
1 "I thought I would test pleasure and see if it was good. It too, proved to be meaningless." 2 "I decided that laughter is madness and asked myself what was accomplished by pleasure?"

3 "I tried wine, and embraced folly, guiding myself with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives." 4 "I undertook great projects, building houses for myself and planting vineyards." 5 "I made gardens and parks and planted all manner of fruit trees in them." 6 "I made ponds to water the trees." 7 "I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my house. And I possessed larger flocks and herds than all who preceded me in Jerusalem." 8 "I amassed silver and gold besides kings and provinces as treasure. I had male and female singers and many concubines." 9 "I became greater than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained with me." 10 "I had whatever I wanted and did not withhold any pleasure from myself, for my labor was my reward."

11 "I considered all my accomplishments and discovered it was all vanity, a striving after the wind, with no profit in any of it." 12 "So I thought about wisdom, madness and folly. What will the man do? Who will come after me, and do anything except what has already been done?" 13 "I saw that wisdom excels folly the same way light excels darkness." 14 "The wise man sees the light while the fool walks in darkness. And yet, I see that the same fate befalls them both."

15 "I said to myself, 'The fate of the fool is also my fate. Of what value is my great wisdom? Even this is vanity.'" 16 "For there is no lasting remembrance of either the wise man or the fool. They will both die and be forgotten."

17 "I came to hate life because everything is futility, like trying to catch the wind." 18 "I detested everything I had worked for, because someone after me would get it." 19 "Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? But he will be in charge of the fruit of my labor produced by my wisdom. This to is vanity."

20 "So I completely despaired of all my accomplishments." 21 "When a man has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then leaves it to one who has not labored for it, that too is vanity and a great evil." 22 "For what does a man get for all his labor and striving under the sun?" 23 "His days are filled with pain and at night his mind cannot rest. This too is vanity."

24 "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This is as God has planned," 25 "for who can eat or have any enjoyment without Him?" 26 "To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. So the amassing of wealth is also vanity, a striving after wind."

Ecclesiastes 3 - RWB Paraphrase (22 V)
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A Right Time For Everything
1 There is a time appointed for everything, and every activity under heaven has its season.
2 A time to give birth, and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to uproot.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to weep and a time to laugh.
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather them up.
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
6 A time to get and a time to lose.
A time to keep, and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart, and a time to join together.
A time to keep silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love, and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 "I have seen the burden God has laid on men." 11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Though He has put eternity in their hearts, no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." 12 "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live." 13 "And when a man eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor, this is God's gift."

14 "I know that everything God does will remain forever, so that there is nothing to add to it or take away from it, for God has done this that men should fear Him." 15 "That which is to be has already been, and God will call the past to account." 16 "Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wrongdoing."

17 "I said to myself, God will judge both the righteous and the wicked, with time to consider every matter and deed."

18 "I said in my heart, God tests the sons of men, that they may see that they are like animals." 19 "For their fate is the same as the animals. Both have the same breath and both die. Man has no advantage over the beast. All is vanity." 20 "All came from the dust and all return to the dust." 21 "Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?"

22 "I have seen that nothing is better for a man than to be happy in his own work, for that is his lot, and he has no way of knowing what will take place after he dies."

Ecclesiastes 4 - RWB Paraphrase (16 V)
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Oppression And Sadness Of Life
1 "I looked again at all the acts of oppression which took place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and no one comforted them. Power was on the side of their oppressors." 2 "It seemed to me that the dead have it better than the living." 3 "And better off then either are those who never were born." 4 "I have seen that every labor and skill is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind."

5 "The fool folds his hands and ruins himself." 6 "Better one handful with quietness than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind."

7 "And again, I saw vanity under the sun." 8 "There was a man without dependents, having neither son nor brother. Yet there was no end to all his labor. He was not satisfied with riches and never asked, "For whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?" This too is vanity and makes life grievous."

9 "Two are better than one because by working together they have a better return for their labor." 10 "For if either of them falls, the other will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is no one to help him up."

11 "And if two lie together they keep each other warm. When one is alone it is more difficult to stay warm." 12 "While one might be overpowered if he is alone, two can resist better. For the same reason, a cord of three strands is not easily broken."

13 "A poor yet wise child is better off than an old and foolish king who will no longer receive instruction." 14 "For he has come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom." 15 "I have seen that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the king's successor, though he is a youth." 16 "There was no end of all the people over whom he was made king, yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind."

Ecclesiastes 5 - RWB Paraphrase (20 V)
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Have Respect For God
1 "Guard your steps as you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather to offer the sacrifice of a fool who does not realize he is doing evil." 2 "Do not be hasty in word or impulse to bring a matter before God. For He is in heaven and you are on the earth. Therefore let your words be few." 3 "For a dream comes through much effort and a fool's voice is known by his many words." 4 "When you make a vow to God, pay it at the appointed time, for He takes no delight in a fool. If you make a vow, pay it." 5 "It is better to not make a vow than to promise something and not pay it."

6 "Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?" 7 "Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Instead, fear God."

8 "If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not be surprised. For high officials watch over each other, and there are higher officials are over them."

9 "The increase from the land is taken by all, including the king who profits from the field."

10 "He who loves money will never have enough. Those who love wealth are never satisfied. This too is vanity." 11 "When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on?"

12 "The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich man keeps him awake." 13 "I have seen a grievous evil under the sun. It is wealth hoarded to the owner's harm." 14 "When those riches are lost through a bad investment and he has fathered a son, then there was nothing to leave for an inheritance."

15 "A man is naked when he is born, and so he will be when he departs. In death there is nothing from his labor that he can take with him."

16 "This too is a grievous evil. As a man comes, so he departs. And what does he gain, since he has toiled for the wind?" 17 "All his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger."

18 "Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all his labor during the few years of life which God gives him. This is his reward." 19 "Furthermore, every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also enabled to enjoy them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor. This is the gift of God." 20 "He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

Ecclesiastes 6 - RWB Paraphrase (12 V)
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The King Finds Life Meaningless
1 "I have seen an evil that is prevalent among men." 2 "God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, and then he does not enjoy them. Instead a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction."

3 "If a man has a hundred children and lives many years, yet cannot enjoy his prosperity no matter how long he lives, and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he," 4 "for his life has been without meaning and departs in darkness, covered in obscurity." 5 "Those that never see the sun or know anything are better off than he." 6 "He is not enviable though he lives a thousand years twice over, and has not enjoyed good things. Do not all go to one place?"

7 "All a man's labor is for his mouth and yet his appetite is not satisfied." 8 "For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to conduct himself before the living?" 9 "What the eyes see is better than what is wished for. This too is vanity and a striving after wind."

10 "Whatever exists has already been named, and what man is has been known. No man can contend with one who is stronger than he is." 11 "With more words comes more vanity. How does that profit anyone?" 12 "For who knows what is good for a man during the few and meaningless days of his existence that pass like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen after he is gone?"

Ecclesiastes 7 - RWB Paraphrase (29 V)
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Wise Advice For Living
1 "A good name is better than precious perfume, and the day of one's death better than the day of his birth." 2 "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting, because death is the end of every man, and the living need to consider this." 3 "Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness the heart can be made glad." 4 "The heart of the wise is willing to mourn, but the heart of fools looks only for pleasure." 5 "It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than to listen to the song of fools." 6 "The crackle of the thorn bush under the pot is like the laughter of a fool. This too is vanity."

7 "Oppression turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart." 8 "The end of a matter is better than its beginning. Patience is better than pride."

9 "Do not enjoy your anger, for anger belongs to fools." 10 "Do not say that the former days were better, for wisdom does not prompt this observation." 11 "Wisdom along with an inheritance is good. It is an advantage to those who see the light of day." 12 "Wisdom like money is protection. But knowledge has the advantage of preserving the life of those who possess wisdom."

13 "Consider what God has done, for who can straighten what He has made crooked?" 14 "In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider that God has made the one as well as the other. This is so that man may not find out what will follow after him." 15 "I have seen everything during the days of my vanity. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man whose life is prolonged in his wickedness." 16 "Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. This can ruin you." 17 "And do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?" 18 "It is good that you grasp one thing without letting go of the other, for the one who fears God comes forth with both."

19 "Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city." 20 "Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and never sins." 21 "Also, do not take seriously everything that is said, lest you hear your servant cursing you." 22 "For you realized that you have many times cursed others."

23 "I tested all this with wisdom, and said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me." 24 "What has been is remote and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it?" 25 "I tried to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and the reason for things, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness." 26 "I discovered more bitter than death is the woman whose heart is a snare, and whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but she will capture the sinner."

27 "Here is what I have found," says the Preacher, "Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason," 28 "which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I did not find a woman among all these." 29 "This is what I discovered, that God made men upright, but they have sought many ways around this."

Ecclesiastes 8 - RWB Paraphrase (17 V)
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More Advice For The Living
1 "Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its stern appearance."

2 "Obey the king's command, because you made a promise before God." 3 "Do not be hasty to go from his presence, and do not take your stand for anything evil, for he will do as he pleases." 4 "Since a king's word is supreme, who can question his intentions?" 5 "If you keep a royal command you will experience no trouble, for a wise person knows when and how to do something."

6 "There is a proper way and time to take care of every matter, though a man's troubles weigh heavily upon him." 7 "For he does not know what will happen, so who can tell him when it will occur?" 8 "No one can restrain the wind, or know when he will die. And just as no one is released from service during war, so wickedness will not let go of those who practice it."

Those Who Fear God Are Better Off
9 "I have seen and thought about all the ways men exercise authority over others to their hurt." 10 "I have also seen the wicked buried, those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless." 11 "Because the sentence for an evil deed is not carried out quickly, the hearts of men become completely evil."

12 "Even though sinners do evil a hundred times and live a long time, I know that it will go well for those who openly fear God." 13 "But it will not go well for the evil man. His days will not be lengthened, because he does not fear God."

14 "There is a vanity taking place on the earth. Righteous men seem to be no better off than the wicked. And there are evil men who seem to reap the same rewards as the righteous. This too is vanity."

Happiness In One's Work Comes From God
15 "So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man in this life than to eat, drink and be happy. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him."

Everyone Has A Common Destiny
16 "When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor on earth, even when he does this without sleep day or night," 17 "I saw all that God has done. Despite all man's best efforts to search these things out, he cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it."

Ecclesiastes 9 - RWB Paraphrase (18 V)
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Still More Advice For The Living
1 "I have reflected on all this and have concluded that the righteous and the wise, and what they do, are in God's hands, for no man knows whether love or hate awaits him." 2 "The righteous and the wicked have the same fate. It is the same for the clean and the unclean, for the one who offers a sacrifice and the one who does not. The good man and the sinner experience the same fate." 3 "It seems to me that it is evil for the same fate to fall on all men. Their hearts are full of evil and insanity all their days. Then they die." 4 "While they live there is a hope. Even a live dog is better off than a dead lion." 5 "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no more reward and the memory of them is forgotten." 6 "Their love, hate and jealousy have vanished, and they no longer have a part in anything that is done under the sun."

7 "So go and eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works." 8 "Always wear white, and anoint your head with oil." 9 "Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life. This and your toil is your reward while you live."

10 "Whatever you decide to do, do it with all of your might, for there is no activity or planning, knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going."

11 "I saw that on this earth the race is not necessarily won by the swift, nor the battle by the strongest. Neither does bread always come to the wise, wealth to the discerning, or favor to men of ability. Time and chance have something to do with this." 12 "Add to this that man does not know how much time he has. Like a fish caught in a net, and birds that are snared, so men are snared in an evil time that can come suddenly." 13 "I have come to see this as wisdom and it impressed me."

14 "There was a small city with few men. A great king came and constructed large siegeworks against it." 15 "There was a poor man in that city who delivered it by his wisdom. But no one remembered him." 16 "So I can say that wisdom is better than strength. Yet the wisdom of the poor man is not appreciated nor is his counsel listen to."

17 "The quiet words of the wise are better than the shouts of a ruler among fools." 18 "Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good."

Ecclesiastes 10 - RWB Paraphrase (20 V)
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Behave Wisely
1 "As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." 2 "A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him away from what is right." 3 "Even as the fool walks along the road, he demonstrates that he lacks sense and shows everyone his stupidity."

4 "If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure can be a great defense."

5 "There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that a ruler can make." 6 "Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones." 7 "I have seen servants on horses, while princes walk on the ground like servants."

8 "Whoever digs a pit may fall into it, and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake." 9 "Whoever quarries stones may suffer injury, and the one who splits logs may come to harm." 10 "A dull axe takes more strength and must be sharpened. So it is that wisdom brings success."

11 "If the serpent bites before it has been charmed, there is no profit for the charmer." 12 "Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool are his undoing." 13 "His talking is folly from beginning to end and the result is wicked madness." 14 "A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what will come after him." 15 "The toil of a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to the city."

16 "Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning." 17 "Blessed are you, O land, if your king is of nobility and your princes eat for strength and not for drunkenness."

18 "Through indolence the rafters sag and the roof leaks."

19 "A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything."

20 "Do not curse the king, or the rich man, even in your bed chamber, for a bird will carry the words away and the matter will become known."

Ecclesiastes 11 - RWB Paraphrase (10 V)
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Generosity Will Be Repaid
1 "Cast your bread upon the waters, and you will find it after many days." 2 "Give portions to seven, or even eight, for you do not know what future disaster may come." 3 "If the clouds are full they pour down rain. Which ever way a tree falls, there it will lie." 4 "He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap."

5 "Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, who makes all things." 6 "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening labor with your hands, for you do not know which will prosper, either one or the other. Perhaps both will do well."

7 "The light is pleasant, and we like to see the sun." 8 "However many years a man may live, let him enjoy each one. But let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. Everything to come is vanity."

9 "Rejoice during your childhood, and let your heart be happy during your youth. Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. But remember, God will bring you to judgment for everything you do." 10 "So, remove grief and anger from your heart, and avoid pain, for childhood and the prime of life pass by quickly."

Ecclesiastes 12 - RWB Paraphrase (14 V)
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Remember Your Creator
1 "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you have no pleasure in them," 2 "before the sun and the light of the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain," 3 "in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, the mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and what is seen through the windows grows dim," 4 "when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades, when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint," 5 "when men are afraid of heights and dangers in the streets, when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred, then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets."

6 "Remember to think of God before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, when the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is broken." 7 "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit, that is, the breath, will return to God who gave it." 8 "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, All is vanity!"

9 "In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher taught the people knowledge. And he pondered, searching out and arranging many proverbs." 10 "The Preacher sought to find acceptable words, salient and memorable, as well as filled with truth." 11 "The sayings of the wise can be thought of as goads. They are like well driven nails that firmly fix the collected sayings which have been given by one Shepherd Who is the final authority."

12 "But beyond this, my son, be warned, the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body." 13 "When all has been said and done, here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." 14 "And know that God will bring every act into judgment, even the hidden things, whether they be good or evil."

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12