אֲנִי

I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.

I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.

…so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.

Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?

And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:

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.

So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.

Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”

Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.

I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Again, I saw futility under the sun.

There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

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.

I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

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

And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected.

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.

Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.

My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

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.”

I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt.

I opened for my beloved, but he had turned and gone. My heart sank at his departure. I sought him but did not find him. I called, but he did not answer.

O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.

I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.

I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. So I have become in his eyes like one who brings peace.

Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.

My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.

The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?

I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it;