Ecclesiastes 2-3

English Standard Version

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. ⁴ I made great works. I ^(E)built houses and planted ^(F)vineyards for myself. ⁵ I made myself ^(G)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 ^(H)slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of ^(I)herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. ⁸ I also gathered for myself silver and ^(J)gold and the treasure of ^(K)kings and ^(L)provinces. I got ^(M)singers, both men and women, and many ^(N)concubines,^[b] the delight of the sons of man.

⁹ So I became great and ^(O)surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my ^(P)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 ^(Q)found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my ^(R)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 ^(S)vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing ^(T)to be gained under the sun.

The Vanity of Living Wisely

^12 (U)So I turned to consider ^(V)wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only ^(W)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 (X)The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the ^(Y)same event happens to all of them. ¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, ^(Z)“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 ^(AA)no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. ^(AB)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 ^(AC)all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

¹⁸ I hated ^(AD)all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must ^(AE)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 ^(AF)turned about and gave my heart up to despair ^(AG)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 ^(AH)all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? ²³ For ^(AI)all his days are full of sorrow, and his ^(AJ)work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

^24 (AK)There is nothing better for a person than that he should ^(AL)eat and drink and find enjoyment^[c] in his toil. This also, I saw, is ^(AM)from the hand of God, ²⁵ for apart from him^[d] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? ²⁶ For to the one who pleases him ^(AN)God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given ^(AO)the business of gathering and collecting, ^(AP)only to give to one who pleases God. ^(AQ)This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

A Time for Everything

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

The God-Given Task

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

¹⁴ I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; ^(BM)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, ^(BN)already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God ^(BO)seeks what has been driven away.^[e]

From Dust to Dust

¹⁶ Moreover, ^(BP)I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even ^(BQ)there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. ¹⁷ I said in my heart, ^(BR)God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is ^(BS)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 ^(BT)beasts. ^19 (BU)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.^{[f] 20} All go to one place. All are from ^(BV)the dust, and to dust all return. ²¹ Who knows whether ^(BW)the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? ²² So I saw that there is ^(BX)nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for ^(BY)that is his lot. Who can bring him to see ^(BZ)what will be after him?