Ecclesiastes 2
2
Does “Having Fun” Bring Happiness?
1I said to myself, “I should have fun—I should enjoy everything as much as I can.” But I learned that this is also useless. 2It is foolish to laugh all the time. Having fun does not do any good.
3So I decided to fill my body with wine while I filled my mind with wisdom. I tried this foolishness because I wanted to find a way to be happy. I wanted to see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.
Does Hard Work Bring Happiness?
4Then I began doing great things. I built houses, and I planted vineyards for myself. 5I planted gardens, and I made parks. I planted all kinds of fruit trees. 6I made pools of water for myself, and I used them to water my growing trees. 7I bought men and women slaves, and there were slaves born in my house. I owned many great things. I had herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. I owned more things than any other person in Jerusalem did.
8I also gathered silver and gold for myself. I took treasures from kings and their nations. I had men and women singing for me. I had everything any man could want.
9I became very rich and famous. I was greater than anyone who lived in Jerusalem before me. My wisdom was always there to help me. 10Anything my eyes saw and wanted, I got for myself. My mind was pleased with everything I did. And this happiness was the reward for all my hard work.
11But then I looked at everything I had done and the wealth I had gained. I decided it was all a waste of time! It was like trying to catch the wind.#2:11 trying to catch the wind Or “It is very troubling to the spirit.” The word for “troubling” can also mean “craving,” and the word for “spirit” can also mean “wind.” Also in verses 17, 26. There is nothing to gain from anything we do in this life.#2:11 in this life Literally, “under the sun.” Also in verses 17, 22.
Maybe Wisdom Is the Answer
12Then I decided to think about what it means to be wise or to be foolish or to do crazy things. And I thought about the one who will be the next king. The new king will do the same as the kings before him.#2:12 And I thought … before him The Hebrew text here is hard to understand. 13I saw that wisdom is better than foolishness in the same way that light is better than darkness. 14Wise people use their minds like eyes to see where they are going. But for fools, it is as if they are walking in the dark.
I also saw that fools and wise people both end the same way. 15I thought to myself, “The same thing that happens to a fool will also happen to me. So why have I tried so hard to become wise?” I said to myself, “Being wise is also useless.” 16Whether people are wise or foolish, they will still die, and no one will remember either one of them forever. In the future, people will forget everything both of them did. So the two are really the same.
Is There Real Happiness in Life?
17This made me hate life. It was depressing to think that everything in this life is useless, like trying to catch the wind.
18I began to hate all the hard work I had done, because I saw that the people who live after me would get the things that I worked for. I will not be able to take them with me. 19Some other person will control everything I worked and studied for. And I don’t know if that person will be wise or foolish. This is also senseless.
20So I became sad about all the work I had done. 21People can work hard using all their wisdom and knowledge and skill. But they will die and other people will get the things they worked for. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. That makes me very sad. It is also not fair and is senseless.
22What do people really have after all their work and struggling in this life? 23Throughout their life, they have pain, frustrations, and hard work. Even at night, a person’s mind does not rest. This is also senseless.
24-25There is no one who has tried to enjoy life more than I have. And this is what I learned: The best thing people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy the work they must do. I also saw that this comes from God.#2:24-25 Or “24 The best people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy their work. I also saw that this comes from God. 25 No one can eat or enjoy life without God.” 26If people do good and please God, he will give them wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But those who sin will get only the work of gathering and carrying things. God takes from the bad person and gives to the good person. But all this work is useless. It is like trying to catch the wind.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Kohelet (Ecc) 2
2
1I said to myself, “Come now, I will test myself with pleasure and enjoying good things”; but this too was pointless. 2Of laughter I said, “This is stupid,” and of pleasure, “What’s the use of it?”
3I searched my mind for how to gratify my body with wine and, with my mind still guiding me with wisdom, how to pursue foolishness; my object was to find out what was the best thing for people to do during the short time they have under heaven to live. 4I worked on a grand scale — I built myself palaces, planted myself vineyards, 5and made myself gardens and parks; in them I planted all kinds of fruit trees. 6I made myself pools from which to water the trees springing up in the forest. 7I bought male and female slaves, and I had my home-born slaves as well. I also had growing herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, more than anyone before me in Yerushalayim. 8I amassed silver and gold, the wealth of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, things that provide sensual delight, and a good many concubines. 9So I grew great, surpassing all who preceded me in Yerushalayim; my wisdom, too, stayed with me. 10I denied my eyes nothing they wanted. I withheld no pleasure from myself; for I took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward for all my work. 11Then I looked at all that my hands had accomplished and at the work I had toiled at; and I saw that it was all meaningless and feeding on wind, and that there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
12So I decided to look more carefully at wisdom, stupidity and foolishness; for what can the man who succeeds the king do, except what has already been done? 13I saw that wisdom is more useful than foolishness, just as light is more useful than darkness.
14The wise man has eyes in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness.
Yet the same fate awaits them all.
15So I said to myself, “If the same thing happens to the fool as to me, then what did I gain by being wise?” and I thought to myself, “This too is pointless. 16For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered, inasmuch as in the times to come, everything will long ago have been forgotten. The wise man, no less than the fool, must die.”
17So I came to hate life, because the activities done under the sun were loathesome to me, since everything is meaningless and feeding on wind. 18I hated all the things for which I had worked under the sun, because I saw that I would have to leave them to the man who will come after me. 19Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the things I worked for and which demonstrated how wise I am under the sun. This too is pointless. 20Thus I came to despair over all the things I had worked for under the sun. 21Here is a man whose work is done with wisdom, knowledge and skill; yet he has to leave it to someone who has put no work into it. This is not only pointless, but a great evil. 22For what does a person get from all his efforts and ambitions permeating the work he does under the sun? 23His whole life is one of pain, and his work is full of stress; even at night his mind gets no rest. This too is pointless. 24So there is nothing better for a man to do than eat, drink and and let himself enjoy the good that results from his work. I also realized that this is from God’s hand. 25For who will eat and who will enjoy except me? 26For to the man who is good from [God’s] viewpoint he gives wisdom, knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of collecting and accumulating things to leave to him who is good from God’s viewpoint. This too is pointless and feeding on wind.
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