All Is Vanity

1 The words of ^(A)the Preacher,^[a] the son of David, ^(B)king in Jerusalem.

The Vanity of Wisdom

¹² I ^(Q)the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I ^(R)applied my heart^[f] to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy ^(S)business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹⁴ I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is ^(T)vanity^[g] and a striving after wind.^[h]

¹⁶ I said in my heart, “I have acquired great ^(V)wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ And I ^(W)applied my heart to know wisdom and to know ^(X)madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but ^(Y)a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

2 I ^(AA)said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.^{[i] 2} I ^(AB)said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” ³ I ^(AC)searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on ^(AD)folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. ⁴ I made great works. I ^(AE)built houses and planted ^(AF)vineyards for myself. ⁵ I made myself ^(AG)gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶ I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves, and had ^(AH)slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of ^(AI)herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. ⁸ I also gathered for myself silver and ^(AJ)gold and the treasure of ^(AK)kings and ^(AL)provinces. I got ^(AM)singers, both men and women, and many ^(AN)concubines,^[j] the delight of the sons of man.

⁹ So I became great and ^(AO)surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my ^(AP)wisdom remained with me. ¹⁰ And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart ^(AQ)found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my ^(AR)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 ^(AS)vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing ^(AT)to be gained under the sun.

The Vanity of Living Wisely

^12 (AU)So I turned to consider ^(AV)wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only ^(AW)what has already been done. ¹³ Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. ^14 (AX)The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the ^(AY)same event happens to all of them. ¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, ^(AZ)“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. ¹⁶ For of the wise as of the fool there is ^(BA)no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. ^(BB)How the wise dies just like the fool! ¹⁷ So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for ^(BC)all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

¹⁸ I hated ^(BD)all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must ^(BE)leave it to the man who will come after me, ¹⁹ and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ So I ^(BF)turned about and gave my heart up to despair ^(BG)over all the toil of my labors under the sun, ²¹ because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²² What has a man from ^(BH)all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? ²³ For ^(BI)all his days are full of sorrow, and his ^(BJ)work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

^24 (BK)There is nothing better for a person than that he should ^(BL)eat and drink and find enjoyment^[k] in his toil. This also, I saw, is ^(BM)from the hand of God, ²⁵ for apart from him^[l] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? ²⁶ For to the one who pleases him ^(BN)God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given ^(BO)the business of gathering and collecting, ^(BP)only to give to one who pleases God. ^(BQ)This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

A Time for Everything

3 For everything there is a season, and ^(BR)a time for every matter under heaven:

The God-Given Task

⁹ What ^(CD)gain has the worker from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen ^(CE)the business that ^(CF)God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹ He has ^(CG)made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot ^(CH)find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹² I perceived that there is ^(CI)nothing better for them than to be joyful and to ^(CJ)do good as long as they live; ¹³ also ^(CK)that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is ^(CL)God's gift to man.

¹⁴ I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; ^(CM)nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. ¹⁵ That which is, ^(CN)already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God ^(CO)seeks what has been driven away.^[m]

From Dust to Dust

¹⁶ Moreover, ^(CP)I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even ^(CQ)there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. ¹⁷ I said in my heart, ^(CR)God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is ^(CS)a time for every matter and for every work. ¹⁸ I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but ^(CT)beasts. ^19 (CU)For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.^{[n] 20} All go to one place. All are from ^(CV)the dust, and to dust all return. ²¹ Who knows whether ^(CW)the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? ²² So I saw that there is ^(CX)nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for ^(CY)that is his lot. Who can bring him to see ^(CZ)what will be after him?

Paul Surrenders His Rights

9 ^(A)Am I not free? ^(B)Am I not an apostle? ^(C)Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? ^(D)Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? ² If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are ^(E)the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me. ^4 (F)Do we not have the right to eat and drink? ^5 (G)Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,^[a] as do the other apostles and ^(H)the brothers of the Lord and ^(I)Cephas? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? ^7 (J)Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? ^(K)Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

⁸ Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses, ^(L)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written ^(M)for our sake, because ^(N)the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. ^11 (O)If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, ^(P)we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything ^(Q)rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. ¹³ Do you not know that ^(R)those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord commanded that ^(S)those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

¹⁵ But ^(T)I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ^(U)deprive me of my ground for boasting. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For ^(V)necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with ^(W)a stewardship. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in my preaching ^(X)I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For ^(Y)though I am free from all, ^(Z)I have made myself a servant to all, that I might ^(AA)win more of them. ^20 (AB)To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To ^(AC)those outside the law I became ^(AD)as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but ^(AE)under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ^22 (AF)To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. ^(AG)I have become all things to all people, that ^(AH)by all means I might save some. ²³ I do it all for the sake of the gospel, ^(AI)that I may share with them in its blessings.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives ^(AJ)the prize? So ^(AK)run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every ^(AL)athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we ^(AM)an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I ^(AN)do not box as one ^(AO)beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and ^(AP)keep it under control,^[b] lest after preaching to others ^(AQ)I myself should be ^(AR)disqualified.