Ecclesiastes 2

1I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; so enjoy what is good.” But look, this too is vapor.

2I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”

3I explored in my heart how to cheer my body with wine, while my heart was guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what was good for people to do under heaven during their numbered days.

4I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself.

5I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted in them every kind of fruit tree.

6I made pools of water for myself to irrigate a woodland of growing trees.

7I acquired male and female servants, and I had servants born in my household. I also had livestock in abundance—cattle and flocks—more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

8I also gathered for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired for myself male and female singers, and human delights—a concubine and concubines.

9So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.

10And whatever my eyes desired, I did not withhold from them; I did not keep my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.

11Then I turned to consider all the works that my hands had done, and the labor I had put into doing them; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

12So I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly; for what can the man who comes after the king do? Only what has already been done.

13And I saw that wisdom has an advantage over folly, as light has an advantage over darkness.

14The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that the same fate befalls them all.

15And I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me too. Why then was I wiser?” And I said in my heart that this too is vanity.

16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man any more than of the fool, since in the days to come everything will already have been forgotten. And how the wise man dies just like the fool!

17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me; for everything is vapor and a chasing after wind.

18And I hated all my labor in which I toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

19And who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will rule over all that I labored for and applied wisdom to under the sun. This too is vanity.

20So I turned and gave my heart over to despair because of all the labor at which I had labored under the sun.

21For there is a man who labors with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, yet he must give it as his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This too is vapor and a great evil.

22For what does a man gain from all his labor and from the striving of his heart with which he toils under the sun?

23For all his days are painful, and his work is frustration; even in the night his heart does not lie down. This too is vapor.

24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy good in his labor. I also saw that this is from the hand of God.

25For who can eat, and who can enjoy, apart from me?

26For God has given wisdom, knowledge, and joy to the man who is good before him, but to the sinner he has given the task of gathering and collecting, to give it to the one who is good before God. This too is vapor and chasing after wind.