Ecclesiastes 2
1 I said in my heart: I will go, and abound with delights, and enjoy good things. And I saw that this also was vanity.
So then I thought to myself, “Alright, let me examine pleasure and see how good that is.” But this too turned out to be something temporary that passes.
2 Laughter I counted error: and to mirth I said: Why art thou vainly deceived?
I conclude that laughing your way through life is stupid, and pleasure—what use is that?
3 I thought in my heart, to withdraw my flesh from wine, that I might turn my mind to wisdom, and might avoid folly, till I might see what was profitable for the children of men: and what they ought to do under the sun, all the days of their life.
Then I used my mind to examine the attraction of wine to my body. My mind still guiding me with wisdom, I took it until I acted like a fool, so that I might see whether this was good for people to do during their time here.
4 I made me great works, I built me houses, and planted vineyards,
Then I tried great construction projects. I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself.
5 I made gardens, and orchards, and set them with trees of all kinds,
I made for myself gardens and parks, planting them with all kinds of fruit trees.
6 And I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood of the young trees,
I constructed for myself reservoirs to water all these growing trees.
7 I got me menservants, and maidservants, and had a great family: and herds of oxen, and great flocks of sheep, above all that were before me in Jerusalem:
I bought male and female slaves, and their children also belonged to me. I also owned many herds and flocks, more than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
8 I heaped together for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of kings, and provinces: I made me singing men, and singing women, and the delights of the sons of men, cups and vessels to serve to pour out wine:
I collected for myself great quantities of silver and gold, paid to me as tribute by kings and provinces. I brought in for myself male and female singers, and enjoyed many concubines—all a man could want!
9 And I surpassed in riches all that were before me in Jerusalem: my wisdom also remained with me.
I became great—greater than anyone in Jerusalem before me. All the while my wisdom stayed with me.
10 And whatsoever my eyes desired, I refused them not: and I withheld not my heart from enjoying every pleasure, and delighting itself in the things which I had prepared: and esteemed this my portion, to make use of my own labour.
I didn't stop myself trying anything I wanted. Whatever I felt like enjoying, I did. I even enjoyed everything I had accomplished, a reward for all my work.
11 And when I turned myself to all the works which my hands had wrought, and to the labours wherein I had laboured in vain, I saw in all things vanity, and vexation of mind, and that nothing was lasting under the sun.
But when I thought about what I had worked so hard to achieve, everything I'd done, it was so short-lived—as significant as someone trying to catch the wind. There really is no enduring benefit here on earth.
12 I passed further to behold wisdom, and errors and folly, (What is man, said I, that he can follow the King his maker?)
So I started to think about wisdom—and madness and foolishness. For what can anyone who comes after the king do that hasn't already been done?
13 And I saw that wisdom excelled folly, as much as light differeth from darkness.
I recognized that wisdom is better than foolishness just as light is better than darkness.
14 The eyes of a wise man are in his head: the fool walketh in darkness: and I learned that they were to die both alike.
The wise see where they're going, but fools walk in darkness. But I also realized that they all come to the same end.
15 And I said in my heart: If the death of the fool and mine shall be one, what doth it avail me, that I have applied myself more to the study of wisdom? And speaking with my own mind, I perceived that this also was vanity.
Then I thought to myself, “If I'm going to end up the same as a fool, what's the point of being so wise?” So I thought to myself, “This is also hard to understand!”
16 For there shall be no remembrance of the wise no more than of the fool for ever, and the times to come shall cover all things together with oblivion: the learned dieth in like manner as the unlearned.
Nobody remembers the wise or the fool for very long—in the future everything will be forgotten. Whether wise or foolish, they both die.
17 And therefore I was weary of my life, when I saw that all things under the sun are evil, and all vanity and vexation of spirit.
So I ended up feeling disgusted with life because everything that happens here on earth is so distressing. It's so incomprehensible, like trying to control the wind.
18 Again I hated all my application wherewith I had earnestly laboured under the sun, being like to have an heir after me,
I even ended up hating what I had achieved here on earth because I have to hand it over to whoever comes after me.
19 Whom I know not whether he will be a wise man or a fool, and he shall have rule over all my labours with which I have laboured and been solicitous: and is there any thing so vain?
And who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will rule over everything I accomplished through my wisdom here on earth. This is just so frustrating, so hard to understand!
20 Wherefore I left off and my heart renounced labouring any more under the sun.
I decided to give up, my mind in despair over the significance of all my life's achievements.
21 For when a man laboureth in wisdom, and knowledge, and carefulness, he leaveth what he hath gotten to an idle man: so this also is vanity, and a great evil.
For you can work wisely, knowledgably, and with skill—and who benefits? Someone who hasn't worked for it! This is both frustrating and totally unjust!
22 For what profit shall a man have of all his labour, and vexation of spirit, with which he bath been tormented under the sun?
What do you get here on earth for all your hard work and worry?
23 All his days axe full of sorrows and miseries, even in the night he doth not rest in mind: and is not this vanity?
Your working life is full of trouble and strife—even at night your thoughts keep you awake. This is tough to comprehend!
24 Is it not better to eat and drink, and to shew his soul good things of his labours? and this is from the hand of God.
So what's the best thing to do? Eat, drink, and enjoy your work, recognizing as I did that these things are given to us by God,
25 Who shall so feast and abound with delights as I?
for who can eat or enjoy life apart from him?
26 God hath given to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he hath given vexation, and superfluous care, to heap up and to gather together, and to give it to him that hath pleased God: but this also is vanity, and a fruitless solicitude of the mind.
To those who are good, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But to the sinner God gives the task of gathering and collecting wealth, only to hand it over to someone who pleases God. This also shows how fleeting life is, and hard to understand—like trying to understand how the wind blows.
