"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.” (Ecclesiastes 2:1-26 AV)