Ecclesiastes 2
2
The Vanity of Pleasure
1I said #Luke 12:19in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with #Prov. 14:13; (Eccl. 7:4; 8:15)mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, #Eccl. 1:2this also was vanity. 2I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” 3#Eccl. 1:17I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was #(Eccl. 3:12, 13; 5:18; 6:12)good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
4I made my works great, I built myself #1 Kin. 7:1–12houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7I 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#1 Kin. 9:28; 10:10, 14, 21I 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, and musical instruments of all kinds.
9#Eccl. 1:16So I became great and excelled #2 Chr. 9:22more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
10Whatever 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;
And #Eccl. 3:22; 5:18; 9:9this was my reward from all my labor.
11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was #Eccl. 1:3, 14vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.
The End of the Wise and the Fool
12Then I turned myself to consider wisdom #Eccl. 1:17; 7:25and madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king?—
Only what he has already #Eccl. 1:9done.
13Then I saw that wisdom #Eccl. 7:11, 14, 19; 9:18; 10:10excels folly
As light excels darkness.
14#Prov. 17:24; Eccl. 8:1The wise man’s eyes are in his head,
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
That #Ps. 49:10; Eccl. 9:2, 3, 11the same event happens to them all.
15So 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 also is vanity.”
16For there is #Eccl. 1:11; 4:16no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,
Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wise man die?
As the fool!
17Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because #Ps. 49:10I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19And 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 also is vanity. 20Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. 21For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22#Eccl. 1:3; 3:9For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? 23For all his days are #Job 5:7; 14:1sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24#Eccl. 3:12, 13, 22; Is. 56:12; Luke 12:19; 1 Cor. 15:32; (1 Tim. 6:17)Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. 25For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? 26For God gives #Job 32:8; Prov. 2:6; James 1:5wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that #Job 27:16, 17; Prov. 28:8he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
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Ecclesiastes 2: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 2
2
Does “Having Fun” Bring Happiness?
Does Hard Work Bring Happiness?
4Then I did great things: I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5I made gardens and parks, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6I made pools of water for myself and used them to water my growing trees. 7I bought male and female slaves, and slaves were also born in my house. I had large herds and flocks, more than anyone in Jerusalem had ever had before. 8I also gathered silver and gold for myself, treasures from kings and other areas. I had male and female singers and all the women a man could ever want. 9I became very famous, even greater than anyone who had lived in Jerusalem before me. My wisdom helped me in all this.
10Anything I saw and wanted, I got for myself;
I did not miss any pleasure I desired.
I was pleased with everything I did,
and this pleasure was the reward for all my hard work.
11But then I looked at what I had done,
and I thought about all the hard work.
Suddenly I realized it was useless, like chasing the wind.
There is nothing to gain from anything we do here on earth.
Maybe Wisdom Is the Answer
12Then I began to think again about being wise,
and also about being foolish and doing crazy things.
But after all, what more can anyone do?
He can’t do more than what the other king has already done.
13I saw that being wise is certainly better than being foolish,
just as light is better than darkness.
14Wise people see where they are going,
but fools walk around in the dark.
Yet I saw that
both wise and foolish people end the same way.
15I thought to myself,
“What happens to a fool will happen to me, too,
so what is the reward for being wise?”
I said to myself,
“Being wise is also useless.”
16The wise person and the fool
will both die,
and no one will remember either one for long.
In the future, both will be forgotten.
Is There Real Happiness in Life?
17So I hated life. It made me sad to think that everything here on earth is useless, like chasing the wind. 18I hated all the things I had worked for here on earth, because I must leave them to someone who will live after me. 19Someone else will control everything for which I worked so hard here on earth, and I don’t know if he will be wise or foolish. This is also useless. 20So I became sad about all the hard work I had done here on earth. 21People can work hard using all their wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but they will die, and other people will get the things for which they worked. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. This is also unfair and useless. 22What do people get for all their work and struggling here on earth? 23All of their lives their work is full of pain and sorrow, and even at night their minds don’t rest. This is also useless.
24The best that people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy their work. I saw that even this comes from God, 25because no one can eat or enjoy life without him. 26If people please God, God will give them wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But sinners will get only the work of gathering and storing wealth that they will have to give to the ones who please God. So all their work is useless, like chasing the wind.
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