<t /><p class="poetry">What benefit<n id="1" /> do people<n id="2" /> get from all the effortp> <p class="poetry">which<n id="3" /> they expend<n id="4" /> on earth?<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">What does a man acquire from all his laborp> <p class="poetry">and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,p> <p class="poetry">for these things<n id="1" /> are a gift from God.p>

<p class="poetry">The produce of the land is seized<n id="1" /> by all of them,p> <p class="poetry">even the king is served<n id="2" /> by the fields.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Let your clothes always be white,p> <p class="poetry">and do not spare precious ointment on your head.p>

<p class="poetry">Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I concluded:<n id="3" /> &#8220;All these<n id="4" /> achievements and possessions<n id="5" /> are ultimately<n id="6" /> profitless<n id="7" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">like chasing the wind!p> <p class="poetry">There is nothing gained<n id="8" /> from them<n id="9" /> on earth.&#8221;<n id="10" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?p> <p class="poetry">Yet<n id="1" /> he will be master over all the fruit of<n id="2" /> my labor<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for which I worked so wisely<n id="4" /> on earth!<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">This also is futile!p>

<p class="poetry">What I have continually sought, I have not found;p> <p class="poetry">I have found only<n id="1" /> one upright<n id="2" /> man among a thousand,p> <p class="poetry">but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.p>

<p class="poetry">What they loved,<n id="1" /> as well as what they hated<n id="2" /> and envied,<n id="3" /> perished long ago,p> <p class="poetry">and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">to eat and drink,<n id="2" /> and find enjoyment in all their<n id="3" /> hard work<n id="4" /> on earth<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">during the few days of their life which God has given them,p> <p class="poetry">for this is their reward.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is the unfortunate fact<n id="1" /> about everything that happens on earth:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the same fate awaits<n id="3" /> everyone.p> <p class="poetry">In addition to this, the hearts of all people<n id="4" /> are full of evil,p> <p class="poetry">and there is folly in their hearts during their lives &#8211; then they die.<n id="5" />p>