Ecclesiastes 2
1 I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove you with mirth, and behold you good: and, behold, this is also vanity.
[Then] I said to myself, “Okay, I will try to do everything that I enjoy. I will find out whether doing what I enjoy can truly enable me to be happy.” But I found out that doing that was also useless/senseless.
2 I said to laughter, Madness: and to mirth, Why do you this:
[So] I said [to myself], “It is foolish to laugh [all the time], and continually doing what I enjoy does not seem to bring any lasting benefit.”
3 And I examined whether my heart would excite my flesh as [with] wine, (though my heart guided [me] in wisdom, ) and [I desired] to lay hold of mirth, until I should see of what kind is the good to the sons of men, which they should do under the sun all the days of their life.
[So], after thinking a lot about it, I decided to (cheer myself/cause myself to be happy) by drinking [a lot of] wine. [So] while I was still trying to be wise, I decided to do things that [many] people do to be happy during the short time that they are alive on the earth.
4 I enlarged my work; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards.
I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
5 I made me gardens and orchards, and planted in them every kind of fruit tree.
I [told my workers] to make gardens and parks. [Then] I [told them to] fill the gardens with many kinds of fruit trees.
6 I made me pools of water, to water from them the timber-bearing wood.
I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
7 I got servants and maidens, and servants were born to me in the house: also I had abundant possession of flocks and herds, beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem.
I bought male and female slaves, and babies [who later became my slaves] were born in my palace. I also owned more livestock than any of the previous kings in Jerusalem had owned.
8 Moreover I collected for myself both silver and gold also, and the peculiar treasures of kings and provinces: I procured me singing men and singing women, and delights of the sons of men, a butler and female cupbearers.
I also accumulated large amounts of silver and gold [that were paid to me] from the treasures of kings and rulers of provinces. [I hired] men and women to sing for me, and I had many (concubines/slave wives) who gave me [much] pleasure [EUP].
9 So I became great, and advanced beyond all that were before in Jerusalem: also my wisdom was established to me.
So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
10 And whatever mine eyes desired, I withheld not from them, I withheld not my heart from all my mirth: for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my portion of all my labor.
I got everything [LIT] that I [SYN] saw and wanted. I did everything [LIT] that I thought would enable me to be happy. All those things that I [SYN] enjoyed were [like] a reward for all my hard work.
11 And I looked on all my works which my hands had wrought, and on my labor which I laboured to perform: and behold, all was vanity and waywardness of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun.
[But] then I thought about all the hard work that I [SYN] had done [to get all those things], and none of it seems to bring any lasting benefit [DOU]. It was all [like] chasing the wind.
12 Then I looked on to see wisdom, and madness, and folly: for who is the man who will follow after counsel, in all things where in he employs it?
Then I started to think about being wise, and [also about] being foolish [DOU]. [I said to myself, “I certainly do not think that] [RHQ] the next king will be able to do anything better than I can.”
13 And I saw that wisdom excels folly, as much as light excels darkness.
And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
14 The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness: and I perceived, even I, that one event shall happen to them all.
[because] wise people [walk in the daylight and] [IDM] can see where they are going, but foolish people walk in the darkness [and cannot see where they are going].” But I [also] realized that both wise people and foolish people eventually die.
15 And I said in my heart, As the event of the fool is, so shall it be to me, even to me: and to what purpose have I gained wisdom? I said moreover in my heart, This is also vanity, because the fool speaks of his abundance.
So I said to myself, “I am very wise, but I will [die at the end of my life], like foolish people do. So (how has it benefited me to be very wise?/it certainly has not benefited me to be very wise [RHQ]). I do not understand why [people consider that] it is valuable to be wise.
16 For there is no remembrance of the wise man with the fool for ever; forasmuch as now [in] the coming days all things are forgotten: and how shall the wise man die with the fool?
Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
17 So I hated life; because the work that was wrought under the sun was evil before me: for all is vanity and waywardness of spirit.
So I hated being alive, because everything that we do here on the earth [MTY] distresses me. It all seems to be useless [like] chasing the wind.
18 And I hated the whole of my labor which I took under the sun; because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
I [also began to] hate all the hard work that I had done, because [when I die], everything [that I have acquired] will belong to the next king.
19 And who knows whether he will be a wise [man] or a fool? and whether he will have power over all my labor in which I laboured, and wherein I grew wise under the sun? this is also vanity.
And (who/no one) knows [RHQ] whether he will be wise or whether he will be foolish. But even if he is foolish, he will acquire all the things that I worked very hard and wisely to get.
20 so I went about to dismiss from my heart all my labor wherein I had laboured under the sun.
I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
21 For there is [such] a man that his labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in fortitude; [yet] this man shall give his portion to one who has not laboured therein. This is also vanity and great evil.
Some people work wisely and skillfully, using the things that they have learned. But [when they die], they leave everything, and someone who has not worked hard acquires those things. And that also [seemed to] be senseless and caused me to be discouraged.
22 For it happens to a man in all his labor, and in the purpose of his heart wherein he labors under the sun.
So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
23 For all his days [are days] of sorrows, and vexation of spirit is his; in the night also his heart rests not. This is also vanity.
Every day the work that they do causes them to experience pain and to be worried. And during the night, their minds are not able to rest. That also is very frustrating.
24 A man has nothing [really] good to eat, and to drink, and to show his soul [as] good in his trouble. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
[So I decided that] the best thing that we can do is to enjoy what we eat and drink, and [also] enjoy our work. And I realized that those things are what God intends for us.
25 For who shall eat, or who shall drink, without him?
There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
26 For [God] has given to the man who is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but he has given to the sinner trouble, to add and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God; for this is also vanity and waywardness of spirit.
God enables those who please him to be wise, to know [many things], and to enjoy [many things]. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God [can] take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. But that also is something that is difficult for me to understand. [Their working hard seems] useless, [like] chasing the wind.
