54/100

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