GPC 10/22
MUSIC I
Qoheleth enters, dressed in
disheveled black, and pours himself a scotch. Two readers stand on either side
of him. He rubs his eyes and begins to speak.
Qoheleth:
Meaningless. Empty. Vain. It’s all…all meaningless. What does a man gain by all
the toil he does under the sun? A generation goes, a generation comes, the
earth remains. The sun rises, the sun goes down, it hastens to the place where
it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and
around goes the wind. And on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to
the sea, but the sea is never full; to the place where the streams flow, there
they flow again. <brief pause>
All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it. The eye is not
satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what
will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new
under the sun. Is there anything of which it is said “See, this is new?” It has
been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance of things yet to be among those who come
after.
I, Qoheleth,
have been king over the people in the high city. And I applied my heart to seek
and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy
business that the gods have given to the children of men. I have seen
everything that is done under the sun, and…and…all is vanity and a waste of
breath.
Reader 1:
What is crooked cannot be made straight and what is lacking cannot be numbered.
Qoheleth: I
said in my heart ‘I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over
the High City before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and
knowledge.’ And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and
folly. I perceived that this also is but a waste of breath.
Reader 2: In
much wisdom is much vexation and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Reader 1:
Qoheleth said he would test his heart with pleasure, to enjoy himself.
Qoheleth:
Meaningless!
Reader 1:
Laughter
Qoheleth:
Madness!
Reader 1:
Pleasure
Qoheleth:
What use is it?
Reader 1: He
searched with his heart how to cheer his body with wine, and wisdom guided his
heart. He sought to lay hold on folly, till he might see what was good for the
children of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
Reader 2: He
made great works. He built houses and planted vineyards for himself. He made
himself gardens and parks and planted in them all manner of fruit trees. He
made himself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
Reader 1: He
bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in his house. He
had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before
him in the High City.
Reader 2: He
gathered silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. He got
singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of
Adam.
Qoheleth:
Thus I became “great.” I surpassed all who were before me in the High City. My
wisdom remained with me.
Reader 1:
Whatever his eyes desired he did not keep from them. He kept his heart from no
pleasure, for he found pleasure in all his toil, and this was the reward for
all his toil.
Qoheleth:
Then…I considered all my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing
it, and…and…all was vanity. It meant nothing. There was nothing to be gained
under the sun.
Reader 2:
Thus did Qoheleth the King consider wisdom. And madness. And folly. For what
can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. Then
he saw that there is more gain in wisdom than folly, as there is more gain in
light than in darkness. The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks
in darkness. And yet he perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
And he said in his heart:
Qoheleth:
What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I striven to be
so very wise? This also then is only hollow. The memory of the clever fades
just as quickly as the memory of the fool, since in time we will all have been
forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what
is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after
the wind.
I hated all
my toil in which I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the
man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?
Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the
sun. This also is meaningless. So I turned about and gave my heart up to
despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a
person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything
to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is meaningless…and
a great evil. <rises, impatiently>
What has a man from all the toil and
striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? All his days are full of
sorrow. His work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest.
Meaningless!
Reader 1:
<answering> There is nothing
better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his
toil. This also is from the gods, for apart from that, who can eat or who can
have their pleasure?
Reader 2: To
the one who pleases them the gods give wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the
sinner they give the business of gathering and collecting, and to give this to
the man who pleases the gods.
Qoheleth:
Meaningless. It means nothing.
MUSIC II
Congregation:
To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. A
time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up
that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break
down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a
time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A
time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to
embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to
get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to
rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to
love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Qoheleth:
What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business which the gods
have given to the children of men to be busy with. El has made everything
beautiful in its time—he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he
cannot find out what the gods have done from the beginning to the end. I have
seen that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as
long as they live; and that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in
all his toil. This is the god’s gift to man.
Readers:
Whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything
taken from it. God has done it, so that we might fear him.
Reader 1:
That which is, already has been. That which is to be already has been; and God
seeks what has been driven away.
Qoheleth: I
saw too under the sun than in the place of justice, even there was
wickedness—even there in the place of righteousness. I said in my heart, God
will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. I said in my
heart about the sons of men that God is testing them so they may see that they
themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what
happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all
have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is
meaningless.
Congregation:
All go to one place. All are from dust, and to dust all return.
Reader 2:
Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast
goes down into the earth?
Qoheleth: So
I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should be happy in his work,
for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what shall be after him? Again I
saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of
the oppressed…they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors
there was power…and there was no one to comfort the oppressed. And I thought
the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still
alive. <growing impassioned> But better than both is
he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the
sun. I saw that all toil and all skill in work comes from a man’s envy of his
neighbor. This also is vanity and a waste of breath. The food folds his hands
and eats his own flesh.
Reader 1:
Better a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after
the wind.
Qoheleth:
Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no one else, either son
or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never
satisfied with riches, so that he never asks--
Reader 2:
“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?”
Qoheleth:
This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
Congregation:
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if
they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he
falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep
warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against
one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly
broken.
Reader 1:
Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer
knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his
own kingdom he had been born poor.
Qoheleth: I
saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was
to stand in the king’s place. There was no end to all the people, all of whom
he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is
vanity and a striving after the wind.
MUSIC III
Reader 2:
Guard your steps when you go the house of the god. Drawing near to listen is
better than offering the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are
doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a
word before the gods, for they are in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore
let your words be few. For a vision comes with much concern, but a fool’s voice
with many words.
Reader 1:
When you make a vow to the god, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure
in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you
should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say
before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should the gods be angry at
your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and
words grow many, there is vanity, but the gods are those which you must fear.
Reader 2: If
you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice
and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is
watched by a higher one, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is
gain for a land in every way; a king committed to profitable fields.
Reader 1: He
who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with
his income, this also is meaningless. When goods increase, they increase who
eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer whether he eats little or much, but the full
stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
Qoheleth:
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by
their owner to his hurt and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is
the father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his
mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for
his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil; just
as he came, so shall he go and what gain is there to him who toils for nothing?
Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and
anger. Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and be
merry in all the toil with which one labors under the sun the few days of his
life that the gods have given him, for this is his lot. Everyone likewise to
whom the gods have given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them. To
accept one’s lot and rejoice in one’s toil—this is the gift of God. For he will
not much remember the days of his life because the gods keep him occupied with
joy in his heart. <pauses>
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on the
children of men:
Reader 2: A
man to whom the gods give wealth, possessions, and honor so that he lacks
nothing of all that he desires, yet to the gods do not give him power to enjoy
them, but a stranger enjoys them.
Qoheleth:
This is meaningless, a great evil.
Reader 1: If
a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his
years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he
also has no burial, a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in
vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it
has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. Even
though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good--
Reader 1 and
Qoheleth: Do not all things go to the same place?
Reader 2:
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For
what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have
who knows how to conduct himself before the living? What your eyes see in front
of you is better than your wandering appetite desires.
Qoheleth:
This also is a vanity and a striving after the wind. Whatever has come to be
has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to
dispute with one stronger than he. The more words, the more meaningless, and
what is the advantage to anyone? For who knows what is good for someone while
he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes through like a shadow?
Who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?
MUSIC IV
Congregation:
A good name is better than precious perfume, and the day of death is better
than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go
to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living must
lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the
heart is made glad. 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 a man to hear the
rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of
thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fool; this also is meaningless.
Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit are
better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to anger, for
anger lodges in the heart of fools. Say not ‘Why were the former days better
than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom is good with
an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. For the protection of
wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that
wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. Consider the work of God: who can
make straight what he has made crooked?
Reader 1: In
the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: the gods
have made the one as well as the other, so that none shall ever learn what will
come next.
Qoheleth: In
my ephemeral life I have seen all things. There is a good man who dies in his
doing justice—and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.
Don’t be overly good, and don’t make
yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, nor
be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should
grasp this, and from that truth do not withhold your hand, for the one who
fears the gods shall escape both.
Reader 2:
Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten mighty men strengthen a
city.
Reader 1:
Surely there is no “good” man on earth who does good and never sins.
Reader 2: Do
not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant
cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.
Qoheleth:
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise.” But it was far from
me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? I
turned my heart to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom, and the scheme
of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is
madness. And I find something more bitter than death:
Reader 1:
The woman. The woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are
fetters.
Qoheleth: He
who pleases the gods escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.
Reader 2:
Qoheleth says this is what he found, while adding one thing to another to find
the scheme of things. His soul has searched repeatedly, but he has not found
her. One man among a thousand he has says he found, but a woman among all these
he found not.
Qoheleth:
This only I found, that the gods made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
MUSIC V
Congregation:
Who is like the wise man? And who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A
man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
Reader 1: I
say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. Be not hasty to go
from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does
whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to
him, “What are you doing?” Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and
the wise heart will know the proper time, and the just way. For there is a time
and way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. For he does
not know what shall be-- who can say what shall be? No mortal has power to retain
his life, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor
will wickedness save those who are given to it.
Qoheleth:
All this I saw while considering all which is done under the sun, when man had
power over man to his hurt. Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in
and out of the holy places and were praised in my city where they had done such
things. This also is meaningless. Because the sentence against an evil deed is
not executed speedily, the heart of the children of men is fully set to do
evil.
Reader 2:
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know
that it will be well with those who fear the gods, because they are reverent in
their presence. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he
prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear the gods.
Qoheleth:
How does this happen on the earth, that there are good people who receive what
is due to the wicked, and there are wicked people who get what the good
deserve?. I say this also is an absurdity. But I commend joy, for man has
nothing better under the sun but to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, for
this will go with him in his labor through the days of his life which the gods
have given him under the sun. <As if
confessing> When I studied to know wisdom, and to see the business that
is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, then I saw
all the work of the gods, that man… <grasping>
Reader 1:<completing his thought>…he cannot
find out the work that is done under the sun. However much a man may toil in
seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he
cannot find it out.
Reader 2:
All this Qoheleth laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the
wise and their deeds are in the hands of God. Whether it is love or hate, a man
cannot know; both are before him. It is the same for all, since the same thing
happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean
and the unclean, to him that sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the
good one is, so is the sinner, and he who keeps his oath is as he who breaks
his oath.
Qoheleth:
This is the evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same thing comes
to all of us. The hearts of the children of men are filled with evil, and lies
are in their hearts while they live…and after that they go to the dead. But he
who is joined with the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead
lion. But the living know that we will die…and the dead know nothing. They have
no more reward, and the memory of them is forgotten. Their loves and their hate
and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all
that is done under the sun.
Congregation:
Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart,
for God now accepteth thy works. Let your garments be always clean. Let your
head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love, all the days
of your “meaningless” life that he has given you under the sun, because that is
your portion in life and your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever
your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for there is no work or thought
or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Qoheleth: I
saw under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,
nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of
skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Reader 1:
Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a
snare, so the children of men are snared at an evil time, when suddenly it falls
upon them.
Reader 2: I
have seen this wisdom under the sun,
and it seemed great to me. There was a little city with a few men in it, and a
great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against
it. But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered
the city. No one yet remembers that poor man. But I say that wisdom is better
than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not
heard. The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a
ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner
destroys much good.
Reader 1:
Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly
outweighs wisdom and honor. A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a
fool’s heart to the left. Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,
and he shows himself a fool to everyone. If the anger of the ruler rises
against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to
rest.
Qoheleth: I
have seen this evil under the sun, error coming from the ruler himself. Folly
is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. Why have I seen
slaves on horses, and princes walking the ground like slaves?
Congregation:
He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through
a wall. He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs is
endangered by them. If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he
must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. If the serpent bites
before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer.
Reader 2:
The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume
him. His talk is folly from the beginning, and the end of his talk is evil
insanity. A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what shall yet be, and
who can say what shall be after him? The toil of a fool wearies him, for he
does not know the way to the city.
Reader 1:
Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the
morning. Happy are you, O land, when your king is a well-born son, and your
princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness.
Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.
Reader 2: Bread
is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.
Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the
rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some flitting thing will
whisper the matter…
Congregation:
Cast your bread upon the waters for you will find it after many days. Give a
portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may fall
upon the land. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the
earth, and if a tree falls, whether to the south or to north, in the place
where it falls, there will it lie. He will never sow who waits for some sign,
and he who watches heaven will not reap.
Qoheleth: As
you do not know the way the soul comes to the secrets of a pregnant woman’s
womb, so you do not know the work of Elohim, who maketh all things. In the
morning, plant your garden, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do
not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. So if a person
lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the
days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. <Rises, addresses Reader 1> Rejoice,
you young men, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your
youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that
for all these things the gods will bring you into judgment. Let not your hearts
be troubled, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of
life…vanity. <Begins to slowly walk
away>
Congregation:
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come
and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the
clouds return after rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble and
the strong men are bent, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and
the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of grinding is low, and one
rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of are brought low—they
are afraid, also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree
blossoms, the locust drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going
to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—before the silver
cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the
fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to dust as
it was, and the spirit returns to the god who gave it.
Qoheleth:
Meaningless, all is meaningless. <exits>
Reader 1:
Besides being wise, Qoheleth also taught the people knowledge, weighing and
studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. Qoheleth sought to find
words of delight, and justly he wrote words of truth.
Reader 2:
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the
collected sayings: they are given by one Shepherd. O child, beware of anything
beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a
weariness to the flesh.
Readers and
Congregation: The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his
commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
SILENCE
