English

Ecclesiastes (YLT)

LibriVox recording of The Book of Ecclesiastes, from Young's Literal Translation. Read by Mark Penfold.] The Book of Ecclesiastes (/ɨˌkliːziˈæstiːz/; literally "Book of the Teacher"; Hebrew: קֹהֶלֶת‎‎, Qoheleth), commonly referred to simply as Ecclesiastes (abbreviated "Ecc."), is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title. The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth (usually translated as "teacher" or "preacher"), introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal or autobiographic matter, at times expressed in aphorisms and maxims illuminated in terse paragraphs with reflections on the meaning of life and the best way of life. The work emphatically proclaims all the actions of man to be inherently "vain", "futile", "empty", "meaningless", "temporary", "transitory", "fleeting, or "mere breath", depending on translation, as the lives of both wise and foolish men end in death. While Qoheleth clearly endorses wisdom as a means for a well-lived earthly life, he is unable to ascribe eternal meaning to it. In light of this perceived senselessness, he suggests that one

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