2:1
I said in my heart, “Very well, I will seek pleasure and enjoy myself.”
But this also proved to be meaningless.
2:2
I said of mirth, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What is gained by it?”
2:3
I gave myself over to wine – with wisdom yet guiding me –
and even tried living foolishly.
I wanted to know how man might best spend his short life on earth.
2:4
I created great works. I built great houses. I planted great vineyards.
2:5
I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of trees and fruits.
2:6
I made collection pools for water, to water the flourishing groves.
2:7
I acquired servants and maidens, and servants were born into my house.
2:8
I possessed numerous flocks and herds,
greater than all who ruled in Jerusalem before me.
I gathered for myself silver and gold, and the treasure
of many kings and provinces. I had men singers and women singers,
and musicians of all kinds, and many beautiful concubines.
I had all the delights of men.
2:9
I became great, far greater than all who ruled in Jerusalem before me.
Even so, my wisdom remained with me.
2:10
Whatever my eyes desired, I did not deny them.
I withheld from myself no pleasure,
for my heart rejoiced in all my labors, and this was my reward.
2:11
Then I looked upon the works my hands had wrought,
and on the labor I had struggled to perform, and behold,
all was vanity and vexation of spirit – a chasing after wind –
and there was nothing under the sun to be gained by it.
2:12
So I decided to look directly at wisdom, and madness, and folly.
Else, what further can a man do after he’s become king,
other than more of that he has done before.
2:13
I saw that wisdom excels folly, by as far as light excels darkness.
2:14
I saw that the wise have eyes in their heads, while fools walk blind.
Yet I also perceived that the same fate awaits them all.
2:15
And I asked myself, “If what befalls a fool is the same as what befalls me,
how then was I more wise?” And my heart answered, “This also is vanity.
2:16
There is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool,
for that which now is, shall all be forgotten in the days to come.
How does the wise man die? The same as the fool.”
2:17
And so I came to hate life. Everything under the sun was grievous to me –
nothing but vanity, and vexation of spirit, and chasing after wind.
2:18
Yea, and I hated all the works I had labored at,
for I must leave them to him who comes after me.
2:19
Who knows whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?
Yet he shall have rule over all the work I have done in my wisdom.
This also is vanity.
2:20
And my heart began to despair of all the labors I performed under the sun.
2:21
For here is a man who labored with wisdom, knowledge, and equity,
yet one who has done nothing for it, will have the fruits as his heritage.
This also is vanity. And a great evil.
2:22
What profits a man for all his toil and vexation of heart, with which he labors under the sun?
2:23
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail, grief.
Even at night his heart cannot rest. This also is vanity.
2:24
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink,
and find enjoyment in his labors. I saw that these pleasures were of God.
2:25
For who can eat his food or enjoy his pleasures more than I?
2:26
God gives wisdom, and knowledge, and joy to those who please him.
To the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth,
so that he can take it from him, and give to those who are good in his eyes.
This also is vanity, and vexation of spirit, and chasing after wind.