'Man' in the Bible

All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.

What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?

All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.

And I went again in search of wisdom and of foolish ways. What may the man do who comes after the king? The thing which he has done before.

The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.

Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.

Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.

And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.

Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.

What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?

There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.

To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

I saw the work which God has put on the sons of man.

He has made everything right in its time; but he has made their hearts without knowledge, so that man is unable to see the works of God, from the first to the last.

I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.

And for every man to take food and drink, and have joy in all his work, is a reward from God.

I am certain that whatever God does will be for ever. No addition may be made to it, nothing may be taken from it; and God has done it so that man may be in fear before him.

Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.

So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

The foolish man, folding his hands, takes the flesh of his body for food.

And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper.

A young man who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish and will not be guided by the wisdom of others.

Because out of a prison the young man comes to be king, though by birth he was only a poor man in the kingdom.

I saw all the living under the sun round the young man who was to be ruler in place of the king.

As a dream comes from much business, so the voice of a foolish man comes with words in great number.

The sleep of a working man is sweet, if he has little food or much; but to him who is full, sleep will not come.

This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.

Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.

A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.

If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.

All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.

What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?

That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.

There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?

Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?

It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.

It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.

Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.

In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.

These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.

Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.

There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.

For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.

Who is like the wise man? and to whom is the sense of anything clear? A man's wisdom makes his face shining, and his hard face will be changed.

For every purpose there is a time and a decision, because the sorrow of man is great in him.

No man has authority over the wind, to keep the wind; or is ruler over the day of his death. In war no man's time is free, and evil will not keep the sinner safe.

All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.

So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.

Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.

Even man has no knowledge of his time; like fishes taken in an evil net, or like birds taken by deceit, are the sons of men taken in an evil time when it comes suddenly on them.

Now there was in the town a poor, wise man, and he, by his wisdom, kept the town safe. But no one had any memory of that same poor man.

The heart of the wise man goes in the right direction; but the heart of a foolish man in the wrong.

And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.

The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction.

The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?

Say not a curse against the king, even in your thoughts; and even secretly say not a curse against the man of wealth; because a bird of the air will take the voice, and that which has wings will give news of it.

Have joy, O young man, while you are young; and let your heart be glad in the days of your strength, and go in the ways of your heart, and in the desire of your eyes; but be certain that for all these things God will be your judge.

And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;

This is the last word. All has been said. Have fear of God and keep his laws; because this is right for every man.