But I say, As long as the heir is a  ¹child, he does not differ at all from a slave, though he is lord of all;

But he is under  ¹guardians and stewards until the  ²time appointed by the father.

So also we, when we were children, were kept in slavery under the  ¹elements of the world;

But when the  ¹fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a  ²woman, born under  ³law,

That He might  ¹redeem those under law that we might receive the  ²sonship.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the  ¹Spirit of His Son into our  ²hearts,  ³crying,  ⁴Abba, Father!

So then you are  ¹no longer a slave but a son; and if a  ²son, an  ³heir also  ⁴through God.

However at that time, not knowing God, you were slaves to the gods which by  ¹nature are not gods;

But now, having come to know God, or rather having been known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and poor elements, to which you desire to  ¹be enslaved yet again?

You observe  ¹days and  ²months and  ³seasons and  ⁴years;

I fear for you, lest I have labored upon you in  ¹vain.

Become  ¹as I am, because I also am  ²as you are, brothers, I beseech you; you have not wronged me at all.

And you know that  ¹because of weakness of my flesh I announced the gospel to you the first time.

And that which was a trial to you in my flesh you did not despise nor  ¹loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, indeed as Christ Jesus.

Where then is  ¹your felicitation? For I testify concerning you that if possible you would have plucked out your  ²eyes and given them to me.

So then have I become your enemy by presenting the truth to you?

They are  ¹zealous of you, but  ²not rightly; but they desire to  ³shut you out that you may be  ⁴zealous of them.

But it is always good to be zealous in a good thing, and  ¹not only when I am present with you.

My  ¹children, with whom I  ²travail again in birth until  ³Christ is  ⁴formed in you,

Indeed, I wish I could be present with you now and  ¹change my  ²tone because I am  ³perplexed about you.

 ¹Tell me, you who desire to be  ²under the law, do you not hear the  ³law?

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one of the maidservant and one of the free woman.

However the one of the maidservant was born according to the flesh, but the one of the free woman was born  ¹through promise.

These things are spoken allegorically, for  ¹these women are  ²two covenants, one from  ³Mount Sinai, bringing forth children unto  ⁴slavery, which is  ⁵Hagar.

Now this Hagar is Sinai the mountain in Arabia and corresponds to the  ¹Jerusalem which now is, for she  ²is in  ³slavery with her children.

But the  ¹Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother;

For it is written, “Rejoice, barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not travailing, because  ¹many are the children of her who is  ²desolate rather than of her who has her husband.”

But you, brothers, in the way Isaac was, are  ¹children of promise.

But just as at that time he who was born  ¹according to the flesh  ²persecuted him who was born according to the  ³Spirit, so  ⁴also it is now.

But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the maidservant and her son, for the  ¹son of the maidservant shall by no means inherit with the  ²son of the free woman.”

So then, brothers, we are  ¹not children of the maidservant but of the free woman.

A good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death, than the day of one's birth.

It is better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
Because that is the end of every man,
And the living takes it to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter,
For by the sadness of face the heart is made good.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

It is better for one to hear the rebuke of a wise man
Than for one to hear the song of fools.

For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
So is the laughter of fools.
This also is  ¹vanity.

Surely oppression makes a wise man mad,
And a bribe destroys the heart.

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning;
Better is patience of spirit than haughtiness of spirit.

Do not be quick in your spirit to become angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Do not say, How is it that the former days were better than these?
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance,
And an advantage to those who see the sun.

For wisdom is a defense, as money is a defense;
But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of those who have it.

Consider the work of God,
For who can straighten what He has made crooked?

In the day of prosperity be joyful,
And in the day of adversity consider.
God has made the one as well as the other,
So that man may not find out anything about what is after him.

I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

Do not be overly righteous, and do not be overly wise; why should you destroy yourself?

Do not be overly wicked, and do not be a fool; why should you die when it is not your time?

It is better for you to take hold of the one without letting go of the other, for he who fears God will come out of it with them all.

Wisdom strengthens the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Surely there is not a righteous man on the earth who does good and does not sin.

Also, do not give heed to all words spoken, lest you hear your servant cursing you.

For your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others also.

All this I have tested by wisdom; I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

That which is, is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

I turned and my heart was set to know and to search and seek out wisdom and the sum of things, and to know that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is madness.

And I found more bitter than death the woman whose heart is traps and snares, whose hands are fetters. One who is well-pleasing to God escapes from her, but the sinner is taken by her.

See, this is what I have found, says the Preacher, adding one thing to another to find the sum,

Which my soul is still seeking but has not found. One man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all these I have not found.

See, this alone have I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the sternness of his face is changed.

I say, Keep the commandment of the king, and that, because of the oath before God.

Do not hurry to leave him; do not  ¹join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.

For the king's word is powerful, and who will say to him, What are you doing?

He who keeps the commandment will know nothing evil, and a wise man's heart will know the proper time and manner.

For there is a proper time and manner for every purpose, although the misery of man is heavy upon him;

For he does not know what will be, for who can tell him how it will be?

There is no man who has power over his  ¹breath to retain his breath, and no one has power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the battle, nor will wickedness deliver its own master.

All this I have seen, and I applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun when a man overpowers another man to his hurt.

And then I saw the wicked buried, who before had gone in and come forth from the holy place and were forgotten in the city where they had thus acted. This also is vanity.

Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set within them to do evil.

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will be well with the God-fearing who are in fear before Him;

But it will not be well with the wicked man, nor will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he is not in fear before God.

There is a vanity that is done on the earth, that there are righteous men to whom things happen according to the deeds of the wicked and there are wicked men to whom things happen according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this also is vanity.

So I praised pleasure, because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to  ¹eat and to drink and to rejoice; for that will stay with him in his labor during the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

When I set my heart to know wisdom and to see the travail that is done on the earth (even though  ¹man's eyes do not see sleep day or night),

Then I saw every work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun, because however man labors to seek it out, he will not find it out; and even if the wise man says that he will come to know it, he is not able to find it out.

For all this I laid on my heart, so that I might explain all this, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; man knows neither love nor hate; all is before them.

All things are alike to all: One thing happens to the righteous man and to the wicked man, to the good and to the clean and to the unclean, to him who sacrifices and to him who does not sacrifice; as the good man is, so is the sinner; he who swears is like him who fears an oath.

This is an evil among all that is done under the sun, that one thing happens to all; moreover the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live; and after that, they go to the dead.

For there is hope for whoever is joined to all the living — surely a living dog is better than a dead lion —

For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.

Their love, their hate, and their envy have already perished, nor do they have some portion yet in all that is done under the sun forever.

Go;  ¹eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.

Let your garments always be white, and do not let oil be lacking on your head.

Enjoy life with the wife whom you have loved all the days of your life of vanity which He has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity; for this is your portion in life and in your labor by which you have labored under the sun.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor is the battle to the mighty, nor is even the bread to the wise, nor are riches to those who have understanding, nor is favor to those who have knowledge; but time and chance happen to them all.

For also man does not know his time: Like fish that are caught in a deadly net and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of men are ensnared in an evil time when it falls suddenly on them.

This also I have seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

There was a small city with a few men in it; and a great king came against it and surrounded it and built great siegeworks against it.

And in it there was found a poor wise man, and he delivered the city by his wisdom; yet no one remembered that poor man.

So I said, Wisdom is better than strength; but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heard.

The words of the wise man spoken quietly are heeded more than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Dead flies cause the perfumer's ointment to stink, to ferment; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

A wise man's heart inclines to his right, but a fool's heart inclines to his left.

And also, when the fool walks on the way, his sense fails him, and he tells everyone that he is a fool.

If the ruler's spirit rises up against you, do not leave your place; for composure allays great offenses.

There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, like an error that proceeds from the ruler:

Folly is set in many high places, and rich men sit in a low place.

I have seen servants on horses and princes walking on the earth like servants.

He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent;

Whoever quarries stones will be hurt by them, and whoever splits logs will be endangered by them.

If the iron is blunt, and one does not whet the edge, then he must apply more strength; but wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

If the serpent bites before it is charmed, then there is no advantage in a charmer.

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool swallow him up.

The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly, and the end of his talk is wicked madness.

Yet the fool multiplies words. No man knows what will be; and what will be after him, who can tell him?

The labor of fools wears them out, because they do not know even how to get to town.

Woe to you, O land whose king is a young boy and whose princes feast in the morning!

Happy are you, O land whose king is the son of nobles and whose princes feast at the proper time, for strength and not for drunkenness!

Through slothfulness the rafters sag, and through idleness of hands the house leaks.

 ¹They make a feast for laughter, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.

Do not curse the king even in your thought, and do not curse a rich man in your bedroom; for a bird of heaven will carry the sound, or something with wings will tell the matter.

Cast your bread upon the surface of the waters, for you will find it in many days.

Give a portion to seven, and even to eight, for you do not know what calamity will happen on the earth.

If the clouds are full, they pour forth rain on the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where it falls, there will it be.

He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Just as you do not know what the path of the wind is or how the bones are formed in the mother's womb, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not hold back your hands; for you do not know which will prosper, this one or that, or whether both alike will be good.

The light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

Indeed if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in all of them; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is vanity.