1 Words of a Gatherer, son of an obedient one, the declaration, an affirmation of the man:—I have wearied myself [for ] God, I have wearied myself [for ] God, and am consumed.
2 For I am more brutish than any one, And have not the understanding of a man.
3 Nor have I learned wisdom, Yet the knowledge of Holy Ones I know.
4 Who went up to heaven, and cometh down? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound waters in a garment? Who established all ends of the earth? What [is] His name? and what His son’s name? Surely thou knowest!
5 Every saying of God [is] tried, A shield He [is] to those trusting in Him.
6 Add not to His words, lest He reason with thee, And thou hast been found false.
7 Two things I have asked from Thee, Withhold not from me before I die.
8 Vanity and a lying word put far from me, Poverty or wealth give not to me, Cause me to eat the bread of my portion,
9 Lest I become satiated, and have denied, And have said, ‘Who [is] Jehovah?’ And lest I be poor, and have stolen, And have laid hold of the name of my God.
10 Accuse not a servant unto his lord, Lest he disesteem thee, and thou be found guilty.
11 A generation [is], that lightly esteemeth their father, And their mother doth not bless.
12 A generation—pure in their own eyes, But from their own filth not washed.
13 A generation—how high are their eyes, Yea, their eyelids are lifted up.
14 A generation—swords [are] their teeth, And knives—their jaw-teeth, To consume the poor from earth, And the needy from [among] men.
15 To the leech [are] two daughters, ‘Give, give, Lo, three things are not satisfied, Four have not said ‘Sufficiency;’
16 Sheol, and a restrained womb, Earth—it [is] not satisfied [with] water, And fire—it hath not said, ‘Sufficiency,’
17 An eye that mocketh at a father, And despiseth to obey a mother, Dig it out do ravens of the valley, And eat it do young eagles.
18 Three things have been too wonderful for me, Yea, four that I have not known:
19 The way of the eagle in the heavens, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the heart of the sea, And the way of a man in youth.
20 So—the way of an adulterous woman, She hath eaten and hath wiped her mouth, And hath said, ‘I have not done iniquity.’
