Ecclesiastes chapter 2 I said in my heart, Come now,
I will test you with pleasure. Enjoy yourself. But behold, this
also was vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad,
and of pleasure, what use is it? I searched with my heart
how to cheer my body with wine, my heart still guiding me with
wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly till I might see what was
good for the children of man to do under heaven during the
few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses,
and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks,
and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself
pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought
male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house.
I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than
any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for
myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women,
and many concubines, the delight of the children of So, I became
great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also,
my wisdom remained with me, and whatever my eyes desired I did
not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure,
for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my
reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my
hands had done, and the toil I had expended in doing it. And
behold, all was vanity, and a striving after wind, and there was nothing
to be gained under the sun. So I turned to consider wisdom,
and madness, and folly, For what can the man do who comes after
the king? Only what has already been done.
Then he saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly,
as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person
has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the
same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart,
What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have
I been so very wise? And I said in my heart that this
also is vanity. For of the wise, as of the fool,
there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come
all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the
fool. So I hated life, because what
is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity. and a striving after wind. I hated all my toil in which
I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man
who will come after me. And who knows whether he will
be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all
for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also
is vanity. So I turned about and gave my
heart up to despair over all the toils of my labors under
the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and
knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone
who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great
evil. What has a man from all the toil
and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For
all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does
not rest. This also is vanity. There is nothing better for a
person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment
in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the
hand of God. For apart from Him, who can eat
or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases Him,
God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy. but to the sinner he
is given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give
to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving
after wind. you