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The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

¹ 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.