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.
Said, I, in my heart, Come now! I will prove thee with gladness, and look thou on blessedness, —but lo! even that, 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.”
Of laughter, I said, Madness! and, of mirth, What can it do?
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 sought out with my heart, to cherish with wine, my flesh, —but, my heart, was to guide with wisdom, even in laying hold of folly, until I should see which was blessedness for the sons of men, as to that which they could do, under the heavens, 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 enlarged my works, —I built 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, —I planted in them trees of every kind of fruit;
6 I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
I made me pools of water, —to irrigate therefrom the thick-set saplings growing up into 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 acquired, men-servants and women-servants, and, the children of the household, were mine, —also possessions, herds and flocks in abundance, were mine, beyond all who had been 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 heaped me up, both silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings, and provinces, —I provided me singing-men and singing-women, and the delights of the sons of men, a wife and wives.
9 So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
So I became great, and increased, more than any one who had been before me in Jerusalem, —moreover, my wisdom, 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, nothing that mine eyes asked, withheld I from them, —I did not keep back my heart from any gladness, for, my heart, obtained gladness out of all my toil, and so, this, was my portion, out of all my toil.
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.
When, I, looked upon all my works, which my hands had made, and on my toil, whereon I had toilsomely wrought, then lo! all, was vanity, and feeding on 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.”
Thus turned, I, to look at wisdom, and madness and folly, —for what can the man [do more] who cometh after the king? [save] that which, already, men have done.
13 And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
Then saw, I, that wisdom doth excel 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.
As for the wise man, his eyes, are in his head, whereas, the dullard, in darkness, doth walk, —but, I myself, knew that, one destiny, 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 said, I, in my heart, As it happeneth to the dullard, even to me, will it happen, but wherefore, then, became, I, wise to excess? Therefore spake I, in my heart, Even this, 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 a wise man, more than of a dullard, unto times age-abiding, —seeing that, already, in the days to come, all hath been forgotten, how then cometh it that the wise man dieth equally with the dullard?
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, for, a vexation unto me, was the work which was done under the sun, —for, all, was vanity, and a feeding on 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.
Therefore hated, I, all my toil, wherein I was toiling, under the sun, —in that I should leave it for the man who should come 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 could know whether a, wise man, he would be or a foolish, and yet he would lord it over all my toil, wherein I had toiled and wherein I had acted wisely, under the sun, —even this, was vanity.
20 I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
Then resolved I, to give my heart over to despair, —concerning all the toil, wherein I had toiled, 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 here is a man, whose toil hath been with wisdom and with knowledge and with skill, —yet, to a man who hath not toiled therein, shall he leave it as his portion, even this, was vanity and a great vexation.
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 the man for all his toil, and for the striving of his heart, —wherein, he himself, toiled 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 pains, and, vexatious, is his employment, even in the night, his heart lieth not down, —even this, was, 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 was nothing more blessed for Man [than] that he should eat and drink, and see his desireth for blessedness in his toil, —even this, saw, I myself, that, from the hand of God, it was.
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 could eat and who could enjoy, so well as 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 before him, hath he given wisdom and knowledge and gladness, —whereas, to the sinner, he hath given employment, to gather and heap up, to give to one who is good before God, even this, was vanity, and a feeding on wind.
