EC-2:1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with
mirth,
therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is] vanity.
EC-2:2 I said of laughter, [It is] mad: and of mirth, What
doeth it?
EC-2:3 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.
EC-2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me
vineyards:
EC-2:5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in
them of all
[kind of] fruits:
EC-2:6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood
that bringeth
forth trees:
EC-2:7 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:
EC-2:8 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.
EC-2:9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were
before me in
Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
EC-2:10 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.
EC-2:11 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.
EC-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.
EC-2:13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light
excelleth
darkness.
EC-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.
EC-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.
EC-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.
EC-2:17 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.
EC-2:18 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.
EC-2:19 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
showed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also vanity.
EC-2:20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of
all the labour
which I took under the sun.
EC-2:21 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.
EC-2:22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the
vexation of his
heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
EC-2:23 For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail grief;
yea, his heart
taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
EC-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
labour. This also
I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.
EC-2:25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten [hereunto],
more than I?
EC-2:26 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.
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