Lexicon :: Strong's H3820 - lēḇ

I said to myself, “See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped[fn] wisdom and knowledge.”

I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.

I explored with my mind the pull of wine on my body ​— ​my mind still guiding me with wisdom — and how to grasp folly, until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven[fn] during the few days of their lives.

All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.

So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise? ” And I said to myself that this is also futile.

So I began to give myself over[fn] to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun.

For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?

For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.”

I said to myself, “This happens so that God may test the children of Adam and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.”

for he does not often consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

Grief is better than laughter,

for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.

The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,

and a bribe corrupts the mind.

Don’t pay attention[fn] to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,

for in your heart you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.

I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and examine wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness.

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap: her heart a net and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.

Because the sentence against an evil act is not carried out quickly, the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit evil.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night),

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live; after that they go to the dead.

Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.

Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense,

and he shows everyone he is a fool.

Remove sorrow from your heart,

and put away pain from your flesh,

because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.