4. For to him that is joined to all the living there is bitachon; for a kelev chai (living dog) is better than an aryeh hamet (dead lion).
5. For the living have da'as that they shall die; but the mesim do not have da'as of anything, neither have they any more a sachar, for the memory of them is forgotten.
6. Also their ahavah, and their sinah, and their kina, is now perished; neither have they any more a chelek l'olam in any thing that is done under the shemesh.
7. Go thy way, eat thy lechem with simchah, and drink thy yayin with a lev tov; for HaElohim now accepteth thy ma'asim.
8. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no shemen (ointment).
9. Live joyfully with the isha whom thou lovest all the days of thy chayyei hevel, which he hath given thee under the shemesh, all the days of thy hevel; for that is thy chelek in this life, and in thy amal (toil) which thou laborest under the shemesh.
10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy koach; for there is no ma'aseh, nor cheshbon, nor da'as, nor chochmah in Sheol, whither thou goest.
11. I returned, and saw under the shemesh, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the gibborim, neither yet lechem to the chachamim, nor yet osher to the intelligent, nor yet chen (favor) to the experts; but et (time) and pega (chance) happeneth to them all.
12. For haAdam also hath no da'as of his et (time, hour, but see Yn 13:1; 8:20; 7:30; 2:4 regarding the Moshiach's knowledge of his hour); as the dagim that are caught in a metzodah rah (evil net), and as the birds that are trapped in the pach (snare), so are the Bnei HaAdam snared in an et ra'ah (evil time), when it falleth suddenly upon them.
13. This chochmah have I seen also under the shemesh, and it seemed gedolah (great) unto me: