Ecclesiastes 2

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

1 I *Luke 12:19said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity.*2:1 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a "vapor" or "mere breath"; also verses 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26 (see note on 1:2)2 I *[Prov. 14:13]said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?" 3 I *[ch. 1:17] searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on *ch. 7:25folly, 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 *See 1 Kgs. 7:1-12built houses and planted *Song 8:11vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself *Song 4:16;5:1gardens 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 *Gen. 14:14;15:3slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of *[1 Kgs. 4:23]herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and *1 Kgs. 9:28;10:10,14,21gold and the treasure of *[1 Kgs. 4:21;10:15] kings and *1 Kgs. 20:14;Ezek. 19:8provinces. I got *2 Sam. 19:35;2 Chr. 35:25singers, both men and women, and many *1 Kgs. 11:3concubines,*2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain the delight of the sons of man.

9 So I became great and *1 Chr. 29:25;See ch. 1:16surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my *1 Chr. 29:25;See ch. 1:16wisdom 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 *[Prov. 8:31] found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my *ch. 3:22;5:18;9:9reward 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 *See ch. 1:14vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing *See ch. 1:3to be gained under the sun.

The Vanity of Living Wisely

12 *ch. 7:25So I turned to consider *See ch. 1:17wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only *ch. 1:9,10what 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 *[Prov. 17:24] The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the *ch. 3:19;9:2,3;Ps. 49:10same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, *[ver. 16; ch. 6:8]"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 *ch. 1:11;See ch. 9:5no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. *See ver. 14How the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for *[See ver. 11above]all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

18 I hated *ch. 1:3all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must *Ps. 39:6;49:10leave 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 *ch. 7:25turned about and gave my heart up to despair *ch. 1:3over 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 *See ch. 1:3all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For *Job 5:7;14:1all his days are full of sorrow, and his *See ch. 1:13work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

24 *ch. 3:12,13,22;5:18;8:15;[1 Tim. 6:17] There is nothing better for a person than that he should *[ch. 9:7;Luke 12:19;1 Cor. 15:32] eat and drink and find enjoyment*2:24 Or and make his soul see good in his toil. This also, I saw, is *[ch. 3:13;5:19]from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him*2:25 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts apart from me who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him *Job 32:8God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given *[See ver. 7above] the business of gathering and collecting, *[Job 27:16,17;Prov. 13:22] only to give to one who pleases God. *See ch. 1:14This also is vanity and a striving after wind.