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 test you with happiness. So enjoy pleasure.” But look, this also was just a temporary breeze.
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 about laughter, “It is crazy,” and about pleasure, “What use is 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 explored in my heart how to gratify my desires with wine. I let my mind guide me with wisdom although I was still holding on to folly. I wanted to find out what is good for people to do under heaven during the days of their lives.
4 I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
I accomplished great things. I built houses for myself and 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 built for myself gardens and parks; I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6 I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
I created pools of water to water a forest where trees were grown.
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 purchased male slaves and female slaves; I had slaves born in my palace. I also had large herds and flocks of livestock, much more than any king who ruled 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 also accumulated for myself silver and gold, the treasures of kings and provinces. I got male and female singers for myself—the delights of the children of humanity—and many concubines.
9 So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
So I became greater and wealthier than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and 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.
Whatever my eyes desired, I did not withhold from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, because my heart rejoiced in all my labor and pleasure was my reward for all my work.
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 on all the deeds that my hands had accomplished, and on the work that I had done, but again, everything was vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind. There was no profit under the sun in it.
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 to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. For what can the next king do who comes after the king, which has not already been done?
13 And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
Then I began to understand that wisdom has advantages over folly, just as light is better than 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 uses his eyes in his head to see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness, although I know the same event happens to all of them.
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, “What happens to the fool, will also happen to me. So what difference does it make if I am very wise?” I concluded in my heart, “This too is only vapor.”
16 Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
For the wise man, like the fool, is not remembered for very long. In the days to come everything will have been long forgotten. The wise man dies just like the fool dies.
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.
So I detested life because all the work done under the sun was evil to me. This was because everything is vapor and an attempt to shepherd the 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.
I hated all my accomplishments for which I had worked under the sun because I must leave them behind to the man who comes 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.
For who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over everything under the sun that my work and wisdom have built. This also is vapor.
20 I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
Therefore my heart began to despair over all the work under the sun that I did.
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 might be someone who works with wisdom, with knowledge, and skill, but he will leave everything he has to a man who has not made any of it. This also is vapor and a great tragedy.
22 So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
For what profit does the person gain who works so hard and tries in his heart to complete his labors 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.
Every day his work is painful and stressful, so at night his soul does not find rest. This also is vapor.
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 anyone than to simply eat and drink and be satisfied with what is good in his work. I saw that this truth comes from God's hand.
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 who can have any kind of pleasure apart from God?
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 anyone who pleases him, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. However, to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and storing up so that he may give it away to someone who pleases God. This also amounts to vapor and an attempt to shepherd the wind.
