Ecclesiastes 1:15-2:11
New International Version
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;(A)
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;(B) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,(C) and also of madness and folly,(D) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
Pleasures Are Meaningless
2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure(G) to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,”(H) I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine,(I) and embracing folly(J)—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself(K) and planted vineyards.(L) 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves(M) who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold(N) for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.(O) I acquired male and female singers,(P) and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem(Q) before me.(R) In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;(S)
nothing was gained under the sun.(T)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
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