Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

New King James Version

The Vanity of Pleasure^(A)

2 I said ^(B)in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with ^(C)mirth; ^[a]therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, ^(D)this also was vanity. ²I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” ³^(E)I searched in my heart how ^[b]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 ^(F)good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

⁴I made my works great, I built myself ^(G)houses, 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 ^[c]water the growing trees of the grove. ⁷I acquired male and female servants, and had ^[d]servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. ⁸^(H)I 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 ^[e]musical instruments of all kinds.

⁹^(I)So I became great and ^[f]excelled ^(J)more 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 ^(K)this was my ^[g]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 ^(L)vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.