Study Desk

in order to teach you true and reliable words, so that you may give a dependable report to those who sent you?

As the heaven is high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.

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

As charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

Be wise, my son, and bring my heart joy, so that I can answer anyone who taunts me.

As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.

Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more.

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me.

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 to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun.

I know that all 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 said to myself, "This happens concerning people, so that God may test them and they may see for themselves that they are like animals."

For the fate of people and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile.

So I admired the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive.

There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. "So who am I struggling for," he asks, "and depriving myself from good?" This too is futile and a miserable task.

Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

For many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.

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.