2:1 I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth,
therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also [is] vanity.
2:2 I said of laughter, [It is] mad: and of mirth, What doeth
it?
2:3 I sought in my heart, to give myself to wine, yet
acquainting my 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.
2:4 I made me great works; I built me houses; I planted me
vineyards:
2:5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them
of all [kind of] fruits:
2:6 I made me pools of water, to water with them the wood that
bringeth forth trees:
2:7 I procured [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:
2:8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar
treasure of kings, and of the provinces: I procured me
men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of
men, [as] musical instruments, and of all sorts.
2:9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before
me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
2:10 And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I
withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in
all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor.
2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought,
and on the labor that I had labored to do: and behold, all
[was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit
under the sun.
2:12 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.
2:13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light
excelleth darkness.
2:14 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.
2:15 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.
2:16 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.
2:17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought
under the sun [is] grievous to me: for all [is] vanity and
vexation of spirit.
2:18 Yes, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun:
because I should leave it to the man that shall be after me.
2:19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool?
yet shall he have rule over all my labor in which I have
labored, and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun.
This [is] also vanity.
2:20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all
the labor which I took under the sun.
2:21 For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in
knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not labored in
it, shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity
and a great evil.
2:22 For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of
his heart, in which he hath labored under the sun?
2:23 For all his days [are] sorrows, and his labor grief; yes,
his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
2:24 [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
labor. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.
2:25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten [to it] more than
I?
2:26 For [God] giveth to a man who [is] good in his sight,
wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth
toil, to gather, and to amass, that he may give to [him that
is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of
spirit.
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