The Kingdom · Not dated
Chapter 20
The Preacher
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
For parents
The Preacher speaks honestly about death and about cruelty. He says that the wise man dies just like the fool and that he came to hate life (Ecclesiastes 2:14–17); that he praised the dead more than the living, and that better than both is the one not yet born (4:2–3); and that the day someone dies is better than the day he is born (7:1). The dead are spoken of again in 9:10, and his last poem tells of the mourners in the streets and the dust returning to the earth (12:5–7).
These are the words of the , the son of , king in .
“ of vanities,” says the Preacher, “vanity of vanities! Everything is vanity. What does anyone gain from all the work he labors at under the sun?
“One generation goes and another comes, but the earth stays forever. The sun comes up and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place, where it rises. The wind blows toward the south and turns around to the north. It keeps turning as it goes, and the wind comes back again on its rounds. All the rivers run into the sea, and still the sea isn’t full. Where the rivers flow, there they flow again.
“Everything is full of weariness, so much that no one can put it into words. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, and the ear is not filled with hearing. What happened before is what will happen, and what people have done is what they will do. There is nothing new under the sun. Can anyone point to a thing and say, ‘Look, this is new’? It was here long ago, in the ages before us. There is no memory of the ones before, and there will be no memory of the ones still to come among those who come after.”
“I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem,” he says. “I set my heart on searching out with wisdom everything that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given people to be troubled with. I have watched everything people do under the sun, and look: it is all vanity, chasing the wind.
“What is bent can’t be made straight, and what is missing can’t be counted.
“I said to myself, ‘Look, I have gained great wisdom, more than anyone who was in Jerusalem before me. My heart has known a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.’ I set my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and foolishness too. And I saw that this also was chasing the wind. For where there is much wisdom, there is much grief, and whoever adds to his knowledge adds to his sorrow.
“I said to my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with merriment, so enjoy what is pleasant.’ But look, this too was vanity. I said of laughter, ‘It is foolishness,’ and of merriment, ‘What does it accomplish?’
“I searched in my heart how to cheer myself with wine, while my heart still guided me with wisdom, and how to take hold of foolishness, until I could see what good thing people should do under heaven all the days of their lives.
“I took on great works. I built myself houses and planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted fruit trees of every kind in them. I made myself pools of water to water a forest where trees were growing.
“I bought servants, men and women, and had servants born in my house. I had great herds and flocks, more than anyone who was in Jerusalem before me. I piled up silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of provinces. I got myself singers, men and women, and the things people delight in: musical instruments of every kind.
“So I became great, greater than anyone who was in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom stayed with me. Whatever my eyes wanted, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t hold my heart back from any joy, for my heart was glad because of all my work, and that was my share from all my work.
“Then I looked at everything my hands had done, and all the work I had labored to do, and look: it was all vanity, chasing the wind, and there was no gain under the sun.”
“Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolishness, as far as light is better than darkness,” the Preacher says. “The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness. And yet I saw that one and the same thing happens to them all.
“I said in my heart, ‘As it goes for the fool, so it will go for me. Then why was I wiser?’ Then I said in my heart that this too is vanity. For no one remembers the wise man forever, any more than the fool, since in the days to come, all will be long forgotten. The wise man has to die just like the fool!
“So I hated life, because the work done under the sun grieved me, for everything is vanity, chasing the wind. I hated all the work I had done under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. Who can say if he will be wise or foolish? And yet he will rule over all the work I labored at and showed my wisdom in under the sun. This too is vanity.
“Nothing is better for anyone than to eat and drink and let himself enjoy what is good in his work. I saw that this too is from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can enjoy himself, more than I? To whoever pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and joy. But to the sinner he gives toil, to gather and to heap up, so that he may give it to someone who pleases God. This too is vanity, chasing the wind.”
The Preacher says:
For everything there is a season,and a time for every purpose under heaven:a time to be born,and a time to die;a time to plant,and a time to pull up what was planted;a time to kill,and a time to heal;a time to break down,and a time to build up;a time to weep,and a time to laugh;a time to mourn,and a time to dance;a time to cast away stones,and a time to gather stones together;a time to embrace,and a time to hold back from embracing;a time to seek,and a time to lose;a time to keep,and a time to cast away;a time to tear,and a time to sew;a time to keep silence,and a time to speak;a time to love,and a time to hate;a time for war,and a time for peace.
“What does anyone who works get out of all his labor?” he asks. “I have seen the burden God has given people to be troubled with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet people can’t find out the work that God has done, from the beginning all the way to the end.
“I know that nothing is better for them than to be glad and to do good as long as they live. And for everyone to eat and drink and enjoy what is good in all his work: that is the gift of God.
“I know that whatever God does will last forever. No one can add to it, and no one can take from it. God has done this so that people would fear him. What is now was here long ago, and what is still to come has been here long ago. And God seeks again what has passed away.”
“Then I looked again,” the Preacher says, “and I saw all the cruel things that are done to people under the sun. Look: the tears of those who were treated cruelly, and there was nobody to comfort them! Those who were cruel to them had power on their side, but there was nobody to comfort them.
“So I praised the dead, who died long ago, more than those who are still living. Better than them both is the one who hasn’t been born yet, who has not seen the wrongs that are done under the sun.
“Two are better than one, because they get a good reward for their work. If they fall, one lifts his friend up. But how sad it is for the one who is alone when he falls, with no one else to lift him up.
“And if two lie together, they have warmth. But how can one keep warm alone? Someone may overpower a man who is alone, but two can stand up to him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
“Watch your step when you go to God’s house,” the Preacher says. “Coming near to listen is better than offering the that fools offer, for they don’t know that they are doing wrong.
“Don’t rush to speak, and don’t let your heart hurry to say anything before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few. As a dream comes with many cares, so a fool’s talk comes with many words.
“When you make a to God, keep it without delay, for he has no pleasure in fools. Keep your vow. It is better that you don’t vow at all than that you vow and don’t keep it.
“Don’t allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don’t say to the messenger, ‘This was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at the things you say, and ruin the work of your hands? Where there are many dreams and many words, there is vanity too. But you must fear God.
“Whoever loves silver won’t be satisfied with silver, and whoever loves having plenty won’t be satisfied with more. This too is vanity. When there are more good things, there are more people to eat them. And what does their owner get from them, except to feast on them with his eyes?
“A working man sleeps sweetly, whether he eats little or much, but the rich man’s plenty won’t let him sleep.
“There is a painful wrong I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his own harm. Those riches come to nothing through bad luck, and if he has a son, there is nothing in his hand. As he came out of his mother’s womb, he will go again, naked, the way he came. He will take nothing for all his work, nothing he can carry away in his hand.
“Look, I have seen what is good and right: for a person to eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his work under the sun, all the days of the life God has given him, for that is his share. Anyone to whom God has given riches and wealth, and the power to eat from them, to take his share and be glad in his work: this is the gift of God. He won’t think much about the days of his life, for God keeps him taken up with the joy of his heart.”
Among the Preacher’s sayings are these:
A good name is better than fine perfume,and the day someone dies is better than the day he is born.
Better the end of a thing than its beginning.Better a patient spirit than a proud one.Don’t be quick to get angry,for anger makes its home in fools.Don’t say, “Why were the earlier days better than these?”That is not a wise thing to ask.
In the good days, be joyful,and in the hard days, stop and think:God has made the one beside the other,so that a person can’t find out anything that lies after him.
Surely there is not a righteous man on earthwho does good and doesn’t sin.
“Go on your way,” the Preacher says. “Eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a glad heart, for God has already accepted the things you do. Let your clothes always be white, and don’t let your head go without oil. Live joyfully with the wife you love, every day of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity, for that is your share in life and in the work you do under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.”
Toward the end, the Preacher says:
Cast your bread on the waters,for you’ll find it after many days.Give a share to seven, yes, even to eight,for you don’t know what harm there will be on the earth.If the clouds are full of rain, they pour it out on the earth;and if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north,in the place where the tree falls, that is where it stays.Whoever keeps his eye on the wind won’t plant,and whoever keeps watching the clouds won’t harvest.You don’t know the way of the wind,or how the bones grow in the womb of a woman who is expecting a child;so you don’t know the work of God, who does everything.In the morning, plant your seed,and in the evening don’t hold back your hand,for you don’t know which will do well, this or that,or whether both will be equally good.
The light is sweet,and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.If someone lives many years,let him be glad in them all;but let him remember the days of darkness,for they will be many.Everything that comes is vanity.
Be glad, young man, in your youth,and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth,and walk where your heart leads youand where your eyes look;but know that for all these thingsGod will bring you into judgment.Put sorrow out of your heart,and put away harm from your body,because youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Remember your Creator too, in the days of your youth,before the hard days come,and the years draw near when you will say,“They give me no pleasure”;before the sun and the light,the moon and the stars go dark,and the clouds come back after the rain;in the day when the keepers of the house shake,and the strong men bend low,and the grinders stop because they are few,and those who look out of the windows grow dark,and the doors are shut in the street;when the sound of the grinding is low,and one gets up at the voice of a bird,and all the daughters of music sink low;when they are afraid of heights,and terrors are on the road;and the almond tree blossoms,and the grasshopper is a burden,and desire fails;because a person goes to his everlasting home,and the mourners go about the streets;before the silver cord is cut,or the golden bowl is broken,or the pitcher is broken at the spring,or the wheel is broken at the ,and the dust returns to the earth as it was,and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “Everything is vanity!”
Then the book speaks of the Preacher himself. Because he was wise, he kept teaching the people knowledge. He thought things over, searched them out, and set many proverbs in order. The Preacher looked for words that would please, and what was written was without fault: words of truth.
The words of the wise are like , pointed sticks for driving oxen, and the words of the masters of assemblies are like nails fastened well, given from one shepherd. And also, my son, take warning: of making many books there is no end, and much study makes the body weary.
This is the end of the matter. Everything has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of every person. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.