31 *The words of king aLemuel, bthe prophecy that his mother taught him.

2  What, my cson? and what, dthe cson of my womb?

And what, ethe cson of my vows?

3  fGive not thy strength unto women,

Nor thy ways gto that which destroyeth kings.

4  hIt is not for kings, O aLemuel, it is not for kings ito drink wine;

Nor for kprinces strong drink:

5  Lest they drink, and forget the law,

And †pervert the judgment †of any of the afflicted.

6  lGive strong drink unto him that is mready to perish,

And wine unto those that be †of heavy hearts.

7  Let him drink, and forget his poverty,

And remember his misery no more.

8  nOpen thy mouth for the dumb

In the cause of all †such as are appointed to destruction.

9  Open thy mouth, ojudge righteously,

And npplead the cause of the qpoor and needy.

10  rWho can find sa virtuous woman?

For ther price is far above urubies.

11  The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,

So that he shall have no need of spoil.

12  She will do him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

13  She xseeketh wool, and flax,

And worketh willingly with her hands.

14  She is like the merchants’ ships;

She bringeth her food from afar.

15  yShe riseth also while it is yet night,

And zgiveth meat to her household,

And aa portion to her maidens.

16  bShe considereth a field, and †buyeth it:

With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

17  cShe girdeth her loins with qstrength,

And strengtheneth her arms.

18  †She perceiveth that her merchandise is good:

Her dcandle goeth not out by night.

19  She layeth her hands to the spindle,

And her hands hold the edistaff.

20  †She fstretcheth out her hand to the gpoor;

Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the gneedy.

21  She is not afraid of the snow for her household:

For all her household are clothed with ||hscarlet.

22  She maketh herself icoverings of tapestry;

Her clothing is ksilk and lpurple.

23  mHer husband is known nin the gates,

nWhen he sitteth among the elders of the land.

24  She maketh ofine linen, and selleth it;

And delivereth girdles unto the pmerchant.

25  qStrength and honour are her clothing;

And rshe shall rejoice in time to come.

26  She openeth her mouth with wisdom;

And in her tongue is the law of kindness.

27  She looketh well to the ways of her household,

And eateth not the bread of idleness.

28  Her children arise up, and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praiseth her.

29  Many daughters ||have done tvirtuously,

But thou excellest them all.

30  uFavour is deceitful, and beauty is vain:

But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

31  Give her of the fruit of her hands;

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Ecclesiastes

or

The Preacher

1 *The words of the aPreacher, the son of David, bking in Jerusalem.

2 cVanity of vanities, saith the aPreacher, cvanity of vanities; dall is evanity. 3 fWhat profit hath a man gof all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

4 hOne generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but ithe earth abideth for ever. 5 kThe sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and †hasteth to his place where he arose. 6 lThe wind goeth toward mthe south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. 7 nAll the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place ofrom whence the rivers come, thither they †return again. 8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: pthe eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 qThe thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. 10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been ralready of old time, which was before us. 11 There is sno remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

12 I the aPreacher was tking over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And uI gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done vunder heaven: wthis sore xtravail hath God given to the sons of man ||to be exercised therewith. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is eyvanity and yvexation of spirit. 15 zThat which is crooked cannot be made straight: and †that which is wanting cannot be numbered. 16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, aI am come to great estate, and have agotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart †had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 17 And bI gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know cmadness and dfolly: I perceived that this also is evexation of spirit. 18 For fin much wisdom is much ggrief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth gsorrow.

2 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore aenjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2 bI said of laughter, It is cmad: and of mirth, What doeth it? 3 dI sought in mine heart †to give myself unto wine, ddyet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on efolly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven †all the days of their life. 4 I made me great works; fI builded me houses; gI planted me vineyards: 5 I made me hgardens and iorchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: 6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: 7 I kgot me servants and maidens, and had †servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of lgreat and small cattle above all that were min Jerusalem before me: 8 nI gathered me also silver and gold, and the opeculiar treasure of pkings and of the qprovinces: I gat me rmen singers and women singers, and the sdelights of the sons of men, as †musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 9 So tI was great, and increased more than all that were before me min Jerusalem: also umy wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I xkept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and ythis was my portion of all my labour. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was zvanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no aprofit under the sun.

12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and bmadness, and cfolly: for what can the man do that cometh ccafter the king? ||deven that which hath been ealready done. 13 Then I saw †that wisdom excelleth cfolly, as far as light aexcelleth darkness. 14 fThe wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also gthat hone event happeneth to them all. 15 Then said I in my heart, As hit happeneth to the fool, so it †happeneth even to me; and why was I then imore wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. 16 For there is jno remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which enow is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And ghow dieth the wise man? as the fool. 17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is kvanity and vexation of spirit. 18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had †taken under the sun: because lI should leave it unto the man that shall be mafter me. 19 And lwho knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. 20 Therefore I mmwent about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in nequity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he †leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what hath man oof all his labour, and of the pvexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? 23 For all qhis days are rsorrows, and his stravail rgrief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

24 tThere is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he ||should make his soul uenjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, wthat it was from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I? 26 For xGod giveth to a man that is good †in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth stravail, lto gather and to heap up, ythat he may give to him that is good before God. This also is zvanity and vexation of spirit.

3 To every thing there is a season, and aa time to every bpurpose under the heaven:

2  A time †to be born, and a time to cdie;

A time to plant, and a time to dpluck up that which is planted;

3  A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

4  A time to weep, and a time eto laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5  A time fto cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time g†to refrain from embracing;

6  A time to ||get, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7  A time to hrend, and a time to sew;

A time ito keep silence, and a time to speak;

8  A time to love, and a time to hate;

A time of war, and a time of peace.

9  jWhat profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

10 I have seen the ktravail, which lGod hath given to the sons of men kto be exercised in it. 11 He hath made every thing mbeautiful nin his time: also he hath oset the world in their heart, so that pno man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 12 I know qthat there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and rto do good in his life. 13 And also sthat every man should eat and drink, and tenjoy the good of all his labour, uit is the gift of God. 14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: xnothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. 15 yThat which hath been is znow; and that which is to be hath zalready been; and God arequireth †that which is past.

16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that bwickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17 I said in mine heart, aGod shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is ca time dthere for every purpose and for every work.

18 I said in mine heart econcerning the estate of the sons of men, ||that God might fmanifest them, and that they might see gthat they themselves are beasts. 19 For hthat which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even ione thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20 All go unto one place; kall are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth lthe spirit †of man that †goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 22 Wherefore I perceive mthat there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for nthat is his portion: for who shall bring him to see owhat shall be after him?