The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

2 I ^(A)said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.^{[a] 2} I ^(B)said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” ³ I ^(C)searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on ^(D)folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

¹⁰ And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart ^(A)found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my ^(B)reward for all my toil. ¹¹ Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was ^(C)vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing ^(D)to be gained under the sun.