Lexicon :: Strong's G3756 - ou

All things[fn] are wearisome,

more than anyone can say.

The eye is not satisfied by seeing

or the ear filled with hearing.

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing new under the sun.

There is no remembrance of those who[fn] came before;

and of those who will come after

there will also be no remembrance

by those who follow them.

What is crooked cannot be straightened;

what is lacking cannot be counted.

When I considered all that I had accomplished[fn] and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind.[fn] There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies just like the fool?

When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong.

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.

There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy[fn][fn] his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

I know that everything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of him.

I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?[fn]

But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

There is a person without a companion,[fn] without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “Who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself of good things? ” This too is futile and a miserable task.

And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer pays attention to warnings.

There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because he does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

The one who loves silver is never satisfied with silver, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile.

The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.

That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed.

As he came from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands.

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

A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives,[fn] if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he.

And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place?

All of a person’s labor is for his stomach,[fn]

yet the appetite is never satisfied.

Whatever exists was given its name long ago,[fn] and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he.

Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

There is certainly no one righteous on the earth

who does good and never sins.

“which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman.

Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen?

No one has authority over the wind[fn] to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; no one is discharged during battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape.

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

However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.

So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

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),

I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten.

Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.