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…lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;

…a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.

One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.

The people will curse the hoarder of grain, but blessing will crown the one who sells it.

The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

One pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

He who despises instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning one from the snares of death.

Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

He who walks in uprightness fears the LORD, but the one who is devious in his ways despises Him.

A truthful witness saves lives, but one who utters lies is deceitful.

Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path.

By loving devotion and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns aside from evil.

He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.

A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share his inheritance as one of the brothers.

The one with a perverse heart finds no good, and he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.

A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.

He who acquires wisdom loves himself; one who safeguards understanding will find success.

A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.

The fear of the LORD leads to life, that one may rest content, without visitation from harm.

Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.

He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.

The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.

He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich.

Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.

You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:

If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.

A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.

The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

He who rebukes a man will later find more favor than one who flatters with his tongue.

He who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.

An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices.

An unjust man is detestable to the righteous, and one whose way is upright is detestable to the wicked.

I have not learned wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul.

All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.

For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!

For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!

Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?

And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.

If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

Whatever exists was named long ago, and it is known what man is; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.

In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.

“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.

While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.

While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.

Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

The one who quarries stones may be injured by them, and he who splits logs endangers himself.

Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?

…when the doors to the street are shut and the sound of the mill fades away, when one rises at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song grow faint,

Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?

My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one.

The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come away, my darling; come away with me, my beautiful one.”

On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him.

I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and squares. I will seek the one I love. So I sought him but did not find him.

I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city: “Have you seen the one I love?”

I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.

You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.

You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.

I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.

…but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of the mother who bore her. The maidens see her and call her blessed; the queens and concubines sing her praises.