King James Version › Ecclesiastes › 2

Ecclesiastes

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1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, there­fore en­joy plea­sure: and, be­hold, this also is van­i­ty. 2 I said of laugh­ter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? 3 I sought in mine heart to give my­self unto wine, yet ac­quaint­ing mine heart with wis­dom; and to lay hold on fol­ly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do un­der the heav­en all the days of their life. 4 I made me great works; I build­ed me hous­es; I plant­ed me vine­yards: 5 I made me gar­dens and or­chards, and I plant­ed trees in them of all kind of fruits: 6 I made me pools of wa­ter, to wa­ter there­with the wood that bringeth forth trees: 7 I got me ser­vants and maid­ens, and had ser­vants born in my house; also I had great pos­ses­sions of great and small cat­tle above all that were in Jerusalem be­fore me: 8 I gath­ered me also sil­ver and gold, and the pe­cu­liar trea­sure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and wom­en singers, and the de­lights of the sons of men, as mu­si­cal in­stru­ments, and that of all sorts. 9 So I was great, and in­creased more than all that were be­fore me in Jerusalem: also my wis­dom re­mained with me. 10 And what­so­ev­er mine eyes de­sired I kept not from them, I with­held not my heart from any joy; for my heart re­joiced in all my labour: and this was my por­tion of all my labour. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, be­hold, all was van­i­ty and vex­a­tion of spir­it, and there was no prof­it un­der the sun. 12 And I turned my­self to be­hold wis­dom, and mad­ness, and fol­ly: for what can the man do that cometh af­ter the king? even that which hath been al­ready done. 13 Then I saw that wis­dom ex­cel­leth fol­ly, as far as light ex­cel­leth dark­ness. 14 The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in dark­ness: and I my­self per­ceived also that one event hap­peneth to them all. 15 Then said I in my heart, As it hap­peneth to the fool, so it hap­peneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is van­i­ty. 16 For there is no re­mem­brance of the wise more than of the fool for ev­er; see­ing that which now is in the days to come shall all be for­got­ten. And how di­eth the wise man? as the fool. 17 There­fore I hat­ed life; be­cause the work that is wrought un­der the sun is grievous unto me: for all is van­i­ty and vex­a­tion of spir­it. 18 Yea, I hat­ed all my labour which I had tak­en un­der the sun: be­cause I should leave it unto the man that shall be af­ter me. 19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour where­in I have laboured, and where­in I have shewed my­self wise un­der the sun. This is also van­i­ty. 20 There­fore I went about to cause my heart to de­spair of all the labour which I took un­der the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labour is in wis­dom, and in knowl­edge, and in eq­ui­ty; yet to a man that hath not laboured there­in shall he leave it for his por­tion. This also is van­i­ty and a great evil. 22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vex­a­tion of his heart, where­in he hath laboured un­der the sun? 23 For all his days are sor­rows, and his tra­vail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also van­i­ty. 24 There is noth­ing bet­ter for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul en­joy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who else can has­ten hereunto, more than I? 26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wis­dom, and knowl­edge, and joy: but to the sin­ner he giveth tra­vail, to gath­er and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good be­fore God. This also is van­i­ty and vex­a­tion of spir­it.