Ecclesiastes 1:3

But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’

You hide your face; they are troubled. You take away their breath; they die and return to the dust.

For what does a man have of all his labor and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?

What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?

This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?

and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?

Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

Don’t turn away to go after vain things which can’t profit or deliver, for they are vain.

“Surely every man walks like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain. He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather.

Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn child is better than he:

Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.

“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish.

He grows up like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue.

For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.

For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.

Man goes out to his work, to his labor until the evening.

He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

For he doesn’t know that which will be; for who can tell him how it will be?

But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow, because he doesn’t fear God.

Truly the light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun.

This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.

Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who adorn yourselves with torches around yourselves, walk in the flame of your fire, and among the torches that you have kindled. You will have this from my hand: you will lie down in sorrow.

The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ and those who handle the law didn’t know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and followed things that do not profit.

They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns. They have exhausted themselves, and profit nothing. You will be ashamed of your fruits, because of Yahweh’s fierce anger.”

Yahweh of Armies says: “The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown. Her high gates will be burned with fire. The peoples will labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they will be weary.”

Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.

Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,

All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died.

Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.

Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!

Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?

all flesh would perish together, and man would turn again to dust.

The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.

You turn man to destruction, saying, “Return, you children of men.”

His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish.

He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.

Therefore I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

“Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.

Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?

But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood.

You have done evil more than your fathers, for behold, you each walk after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you don’t listen to me.

The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?

I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” says Yahweh.

For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.

For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.

Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”

But the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also,

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh.

All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:

All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.

When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night),

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken cisterns that can’t hold water.

Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.

For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: “If anyone is not willing to work, don’t let him eat.”

You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”

I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.

For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither do they any longer have a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.

I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness.

Behold, isn’t it of Yahweh of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?

For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.

“What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?