Job 14:21

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

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

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.

For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.

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.

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

The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.

“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 do the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”

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

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?

For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.

A fool also multiplies words. Man doesn’t know what will be; and that which will be after him, who can tell him?

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.

“But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’

We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing.

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.”

Is this the way you repay Yahweh, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.

On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass;

For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?

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

The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.

For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory forever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!

For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

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.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.

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.

So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is vanity.

Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity, for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun.

For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.

But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.

and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away.

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.

I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.

“My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct, and the grave is ready for me.

My days are past. My plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart.

He lies down rich, but he will not do so again. He opens his eyes, and he is not.

Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.

Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?

Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.

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

One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.

There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.

I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.

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.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live.

There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand.

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

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.

Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend,

Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.

Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;

For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.

Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?

If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest?

But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;

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

About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer, neither did she regard it.

For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?

They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.

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

How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.

Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations.

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

I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men: musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

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?

Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.

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?

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.

For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;