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, “Come, now, I will try thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure!” But, lo! this also was vanity.
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.”
I said of laughter, “It is mad;” and of mirth, “What availeth it?”
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 thought in my heart to strengthen my body with wine, and, while my heart cleaved to wisdom, to lay hold on folly, till I should see what was good for the sons of men, which they should do under heaven all the days of their life.
4 I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
I made me great works. I builded me houses; I planted me 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 me gardens and parks, and planted in them fruit-trees of every kind.
6 I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
I made me pools of water, with which to water the grove shooting up 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 got me men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
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 heaped me up also silver and gold, and the wealth of kings and of provinces. I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delight of the sons of men, a chosen woman and chosen women.
9 So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
So I became greater than all that were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained 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 whatever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy. For my heart rejoiced by means of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.
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.
Then I looked upon all the works which my hands had wrought, and upon all the labor which I had toiled in performing; and, behold, it was all vanity, and striving after wind, and there was no profit 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.”
Then I turned myself to behold wisdom and senselessness and folly. For what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
13 And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
I saw, indeed, that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth 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 wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness; yet I perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
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.
Then I said in my heart, “As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth to me. Why, then, became I wiser than others?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”
16 Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
For there is no remembrance of the wise man more than of the fool for ever; for in the days to come shall all have long been forgotten; and, alas! the wise man dieth, as well as the fool.
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.
Therefore I hated life, because what is done under the sun appeared evil to me. For all is vanity, and striving after wind.
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.
Yea, I hated all my labor which I had performed under the sun, because I must leave it to the man that shall be 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.
And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he be lord of all the labor with which I have wearied myself, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
Therefore I turned to give up my heart to despair in regard to all the labor with which I had wearied myself 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 there is a man whose labor has been with wisdom and knowledge and skill; yet to a man who hath not labored for it must he leave it as his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
For what hath man of all his labor, and the striving of his spirit, with which he wearieth himself 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.
For all his days are grief, and his occupation trouble; even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
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.
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink, and let his soul enjoy good in his labor. But this, as I have seen, cometh 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.
For who can eat, or hasten thereunto more than I?
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.
For to a man who is good in his sight God giveth wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he giveth the wearisome business of gathering and heaping up, to give it to him who is good before God. This also is vanity, and striving after wind.
