Ecclesiastes 2
1 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.
I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity.
2 I conclude that laughing your way through life is stupid, and pleasure—what use is that?
I said of laughter, “It is foolishness;” and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
3 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.
I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.
4 Then I tried great construction projects. I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself.
I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.
5 I made for myself gardens and parks, planting them with all kinds of fruit trees.
I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
6 I constructed for myself reservoirs to water all these growing trees.
I made myself pools of water, to water the forest where trees were grown.
7 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.
I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem.
8 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!
I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men: musical instruments of all sorts.
9 I became great—greater than anyone in Jerusalem before me. All the while my wisdom stayed with me.
So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.
10 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.
Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.
11 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.
Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
12 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?
I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly; for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.
13 I recognized that wisdom is better than foolishness just as light is better than darkness.
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.
14 The wise see where they're going, but fools walk in darkness. But I also realized that they all come to the same end.
The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
15 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!”
Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
16 Nobody remembers the wise or the fool for very long—in the future everything will be forgotten. Whether wise or foolish, they both die.
For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory forever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!
17 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.
So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
18 I even ended up hating what I had achieved here on earth because I have to hand it over to whoever comes after me.
I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
19 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!
Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 I decided to give up, my mind in despair over the significance of all my life's achievements.
Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun.
21 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!
For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 What do you get here on earth for all your hard work and worry?
For what does a man have of all his labor and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?
23 Your working life is full of trouble and strife—even at night your thoughts keep you awake. This is tough to comprehend!
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 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,
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
25 for who can eat or enjoy life apart from him?
For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
26 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.
For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
