Ecclesiastes 2:1–17

The Vanity of Pleasure and Possessions

¹I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with ^agladness, so that you shall see good things.” And behold, it too was vanity.

^2aI said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of gladness, “What does it do?”

³I explored with my heart how to ^1astimulate my ²body with wine—while my heart was guiding me wisely—and how to seize ^bsimpleminded folly, until I could see ^cwhere is this good for the sons of men in what they do under heaven the few days of their lives.

⁴I made my works great: I ^abuilt houses for myself; I planted ^bvineyards for myself;

⁵I made for myself ^agardens and ^bparks, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;

⁶I made for myself ^apools of water from which to water a forest of growing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves, and I had ^1ahomeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and ^bherds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

⁸Also, I collected for myself silver and ^agold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself ^bmale and female singers and the pleasures of the sons of men—many concubines.

⁹Then I became ^agreat and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.

^10aAll that my eyes asked for I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any gladness, for my heart was glad because of all my labor, and this was my ^breward for all my labor.

¹¹Thus I turned to all my works which my hands had done and the labor which I had labored to do, and behold, all was ^1avanity and striving after wind, and there was ^bno advantage under the sun.

Wisdom Excels Folly

¹²So I turned to ^asee wisdom, madness, and simpleminded folly. What will the man do who will come after the king except ^bwhat has already been done?

¹³And I saw that there is an advantage in ^awisdom over simpleminded folly as light has an advantage over darkness.

¹⁴The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the ^afool walks in darkness. And yet I know that the ^bfate of one becomes the fate of all of them.

¹⁵Then I said in my heart, “^aAs is the fate of the fool, so will my fate be also. ^bWhy then have I been extremely wise?” So I said in my heart, “This too is vanity.”

¹⁶For there is ^ano remembrance of the wise man along with the fool forever, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And ^bhow the wise man dies with the fool!

¹⁷So I ^ahated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ¹grievous to me; because everything is vanity and striving after wind.