Ecclesiastes 2

¹ I said to myself, 'Come now,
I will test you with pleasure;
enjoy what is good.'
But look—this too was fleeting.

² Of laughter I said, 'It is madness,'
and of pleasure, 'What does it accomplish?'

³ I explored with my mind
how to cheer my body with wine—
my mind still guiding me with wisdom—
and how to embrace folly,
until I could see
what is good for human beings to do
under the heavens
during the few days of their lives.

⁴ I undertook great works:
I built houses for myself,
I planted vineyards for myself.

⁵ I made gardens and parks for myself
and planted in them
every kind of fruit tree.

⁶ I made pools of water for myself
to irrigate a forest of growing trees.

⁷ I acquired male and female servants
and had servants born in my house.
I also had great herds and flocks—
more than all who were before me
in Jerusalem.

⁸ I gathered for myself silver and gold,
the treasure of kings and provinces.
I acquired male and female singers,
and the delights of humankind—
many concubines.

⁹ So I became great
and surpassed all who were before me
in Jerusalem.
Also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰ Whatever my eyes desired
I did not withhold from them.
I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure,
for my heart found pleasure in all my toil,
and this was my portion from all my toil.

¹¹ Then I considered all my hands had done
and the toil I had labored to achieve,
and look—all was fleeting
and a chasing after wind.
There was no gain under the sun.

¹² Then I turned to consider wisdom
and madness and folly.
For what can anyone do
who comes after the king?
Only what has already been done.

¹³ And I saw that wisdom surpasses folly
as light surpasses darkness.

¹⁴ The wise have eyes in their head,
but the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I also know
that one fate befalls them both.

¹⁵ Then I said to myself,
'The fate of the fool will also befall me.
So why have I been so very wise?'
And I said to myself
that this too is fleeting.

¹⁶ For there is no lasting remembrance
of the wise any more than of the fool,
since in the days to come
all will have been long forgotten.
How the wise die just like the fool!

¹⁷ So I hated life,
because the work done under the sun
was grievous to me.
For all is fleeting
and a chasing after wind.

¹⁸ I hated all my toil
at which I had labored under the sun,
because I must leave it
to the one who comes after me.

¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?
Yet he will have control
over all the fruit of my toil
for which I labored and used my wisdom
under the sun.
This too is fleeting.

²⁰ So I turned to let my heart despair
over all the toil
at which I had labored under the sun.

²¹ For here is one who has labored
with wisdom and knowledge and skill,
yet must hand over their portion
to someone who has not labored for it.
This too is fleeting and a great wrong.

²² For what do people get
from all their toil and striving of heart
with which they labor under the sun?

²³ For all their days bring sorrow,
and their occupation is grief.
Even at night their mind does not rest.
This too is fleeting.

²⁴ There is nothing better for a person
than to eat and drink
and find enjoyment in their toil.
This too, I saw, is from the hand of God.

²⁵ For who can eat or who can enjoy
apart from him?

²⁶ For to the person who pleases him,
God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy;
but to the one who displeases him,
he gives the task of gathering and collecting—
only to hand it over
to one who pleases God.
This too is fleeting
and a chasing after wind.