The Vanity of Pleasure
1 I saidin my heart, “Come now, I will test you withmirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely,this alsowasvanity.
2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
3 I searched in my hearthowto gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see whatwasgood for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
4 I made my works great, I built myselfhouses, and planted myself vineyards.
5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted allkindsof fruit trees in them.
6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.
7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men,andmusical instruments of all kinds.
9 So I became great and excelledmore than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
# Andthis was my reward from all my labor.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
# And indeed allwasvanity and grasping for the wind.
Therewasno profit under the sun.
The End of the Wise and the Fool
12 Then I turned myself to consider wisdomand madness and folly;
For whatcanthe mandowho succeeds the king?—
# Onlywhat he has alreadydone.
13 Then I saw that wisdomexcels folly
As light excels darkness.
14 The wise man’s eyesarein his head,
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
# Thatthe same event happens to them all.
15 So I said in my heart,
“As it happens to the fool,
It also happens to me,
And why was I then more wise?”
Then I said in my heart,
“This alsoisvanity.”
16 Forthereisno more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,
Since all that nowiswill be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wisemandie?
As the fool!
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sunwasdistressing to me, for allisvanity and grasping for the wind.
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, becauseI must leave it to the man who will come after me.
19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This alsoisvanity.
20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
21 For there is a man whose laboriswith wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This alsoisvanity and a great evil.
22 For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
23 For all his daysaresorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 Nothingisbetter for a manthanthat he should eat and drink, andthathis soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
26 ForGodgiveswisdom and knowledge and joy to a man whoisgood in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, thathe may give tohimwhoisgood before God. This alsoisvanity and grasping for the wind.