עָמָל

Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”

He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.

So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression.

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.

For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.

As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.

For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed to me.

For you will forget your misery, recalling it only as waters gone by.

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”

“I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.

Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.

His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.

His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.

Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within.

They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.

When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight

The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?

He gave them the lands of the nations, that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,

He humbled their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.

…for their hearts devise violence, and their lips declare trouble.

Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?

Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

…and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.

There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.

As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.

So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.

The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.

Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,