1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”

1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

1 I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. 2 So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”

1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”

1 I said to myself, “I will try having fun. I will enjoy myself.” But I found that this is also useless. 2 It is foolish to laugh all the time, and having fun doesn’t accomplish anything.

1 I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?

1 I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity. 2 I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?

1 I thought to myself, “Now I want to experiment with pleasure and enjoy myself.” But even this was pointless. 

2 I thought, “Laughter doesn’t make any sense. What does pleasure accomplish?” 

1 I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile. 2 I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”

1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

1 I said to myself, “Come! I will test pleasure to see whether it is worthwhile.” But look, “This also is vanity!” 2 I said of laughter, “It is folly!” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

1 I said to myself, “Come on. I’ll put pleasure to the test. I want to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless.

2 “Laughter is foolish,” I said. “And what can pleasure do for me?”

1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.

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