Ecclesiastes 2
1 [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.
I said in my heart: “I will go forth and overflow with delights, and I will enjoy good things.” And I saw that this, too, is emptiness.
2 [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.”
Laughter, I considered an error. And to rejoicing, I said: “Why are you being deceived, to no purpose?”
3 [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.
I decided in my heart to withdraw my flesh from wine, so that I might bring my mind to wisdom, and turn away from foolishness, until I see what is useful for the sons of men, and what they ought to do under the sun, during the number of the days of their life.
4 I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
I magnified my works. I built houses for myself, and I planted vineyards.
5 I [told my workers] to make gardens and parks. [Then] I [told them to] fill the gardens with many kinds of fruit trees.
I made gardens and orchards. And I planted them with trees of every kind.
6 I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
And I dug out fishponds of water, so that I might irrigate the forest of growing trees.
7 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.
I obtained men and women servants, and I had a great family, as well as herds of cattle and great flocks of sheep, beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem.
8 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].
I amassed for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of kings and governors. I chose men and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, bowls and pitchers for the purpose of pouring wine.
9 So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
And I surpassed in opulence all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also persevered with me.
10 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.
And all that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. Neither did I prohibit my heart from enjoying every pleasure, and from amusing itself in the things that I had prepared. And I regarded this as my share, as if I were making use of my own labors.
11 [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.
But when I turned myself toward all the works that my hands had made, and to the labors in which I had perspired to no purpose, I saw emptiness and affliction of the soul in all things, and that nothing is permanent under the sun.
12 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.”
I continued on, so as to contemplate wisdom, as well as error and foolishness. “What is man,” I said, “that he would be able to follow his Maker, the King?”
13 And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
And I saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness, so much so that they differ as much as light from darkness.
14 [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.
The eyes of a wise man are in his head. A foolish man walks in darkness. Yet I learned that one would pass away like the other.
15 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.
And I said in my heart: “If the death of both the foolish and myself will be one, how does it benefit me, if I have given myself more thoroughly to the work of wisdom?” And as I was speaking within my own mind, I perceived that this, too, is emptiness.
16 Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
For there will not be a remembrance in perpetuity of the wise, nor of the foolish. And the future times will cover everything together, with oblivion. The learned die in a manner similar to the unlearned.
17 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.
And, because of this, my life wearied me, since I saw that everything under the sun is evil, and everything is empty and an affliction of the spirit.
18 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.
Again, I detested all my efforts, by which I had earnestly labored under the sun, to be taken up by an heir after me,
19 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.
though I know not whether he will be wise or foolish. And yet he will have power over my labors, in which I have toiled and been anxious. And is there anything else so empty?
20 I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
Therefore, I ceased, and my heart renounced further laboring under the sun.
21 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.
For when someone labors in wisdom, and doctrine, and prudence, he leaves behind what he has obtained to one who is idle. So this, too, is emptiness and a great burden.
22 So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
For how can a man benefit from all his labor and affliction of spirit, by which he has been tormented under the sun?
23 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.
All his days have been filled with sorrows and hardships; neither does he rest his mind, even in the night. And is this not emptiness?
24 [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.
Is it not better to eat and drink, and to show his soul the good things of his labors? And this is from the hand of God.
25 There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
So who will feast and overflow with delights as much as I have?
26 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.
God has given, to the man who is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and rejoicing. But to the sinner, he has given affliction and needless worrying, so as to add, and to gather, and to deliver, to him who has pleased God. But this, too, is emptiness and a hollow worrying of the mind.
