Ecclesiastes 2:1–26

Pleasures Are Meaningless

2I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure^w to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. ²“Laughter,”^x I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” ³I tried cheering myself with wine,^y and embracing folly^z—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

⁴I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself^a and planted vineyards.^{b 5}I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. ⁷I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves^c who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. ⁸I amassed silver and gold^d for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.^e I acquired male and female singers,^f and a harem^a as well—the delights of a man’s heart. ⁹I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem^g before me.^h In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

¹⁰I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my labor,

and this was the reward for all my toil.

¹¹Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;ⁱ

nothing was gained under the sun.^j

Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless

¹²Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,

and also madness and folly.^k

What more can the king’s successor do

than what has already been done?^l

¹³I saw that wisdom^m is better than folly,ⁿ

just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴The wise have eyes in their heads,

while the fool walks in the darkness;

but I came to realize

that the same fate overtakes them both.^o

¹⁵Then I said to myself,

“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.

What then do I gain by being wise?”^p

I said to myself,

“This too is meaningless.”

¹⁶For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;^q

the days have already come when both have been forgotten.^r

Like the fool, the wise too must die!^s

Toil Is Meaningless

¹⁷So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^{t 18}I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.^{u 19}And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?^v Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²²What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?^{w 23}All their days their work is grief and pain;^x even at night their minds do not rest.^y This too is meaningless.

²⁴A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink^z and find satisfaction in their own toil.^a This too, I see, is from the hand of God,^{b 25}for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?^{c 26}To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,^d knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth^e to hand it over to the one who pleases God.^f This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.