The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Ecclesiastes 02
1 I said in my heart, “Come now,I willtest
you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure;”
and behold, this also was vanity.
2 I said of laughter, “It is foolishness;”
and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
3 I searched in my heart how to cheer
my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding
me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of
folly, until I might see what it was good for
the sons of men that they should do under
heaven all the days of their lives.
4 I made myself great works. I built
myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.
5 I made myself gardens and parks, and I
planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
6 I made myself pools of water, to water
the forest where trees were grown.
7 I bought male servants and female servants, and
had servants born in my house.
I also had great possessions of herds and
flocks, above all who were before me in
Jerusalem.
8 I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the
treasure of kings and of the
provinces. I got myself male and female
singers, and the delights of the sons of
men: musical instruments of all sorts.
9 So I was great, and increasedmore than
all who were before me in Jerusalem. My
wisdom also remained with me.
10 Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t
keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy,
for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my
portion from all my labor.
11 Then I looked at all the works that my
hands had worked, and at the labor that
I had labored to do; and behold, all was
vanity and a chasing after wind, and there
was no profit under the sun.
12 I turned myself to consider wisdom,
madness, and folly; for what can the king’s
successor do? Just that which has been
done long ago.
13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as
far as light excels darkness.
14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head,
and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I
perceived that one event happens to them
all.
15 Then I said in my heart, “As it happens
to the fool, so will it happen even to me;
and why was I then more wise?” Then I
said in my heart that this also is vanity.
16 For of the wise man, even as of the
fool, there is no memory forever, since in
the days to come all will have been long
forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die
just like the fool!
17 So I hated life, because the work thatis
worked under the sun was grievous to me;
for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
18 I hated all my labor in which I labored
under the sun, because I must leave it to
the man who comes after me.
19 Who knows whether he will be a wise
man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all
of my labor in which I have labored, and in
which I have shown myself wise under the
sun. This also is vanity.
20 Therefore I began to cause my heart to
despair concerning all the labor in which I
had labored under the sun.
21 For there is a man whose labor is with
wisdom, with knowledge, and with skill fulness; yet he shall
leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This
also is vanity and a great evil.
22 For what does a man have of all his
labor and of the striving of his heart, in
which he labors under the sun?
23 For all his days are sorrows, and his
travail is grief; yes, even in the night his
heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a man than
that he should eat and drink, and make his
soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I
saw, that it is from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat, or who can have
enjoyment, more than I?
26 For to the man who pleases him, God
gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to
the sinner he gives travail, to gather and
to heap up, that he may give to him who
pleases God. This also is vanity and a
chasing after wind.