Ecclesiastes 2
Darby's Bible - Ecclesiastes 2 << | >> 123456789101112 2:1 I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity. 2:2 I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it? 2:3 I searched in my heart how to cherish my flesh with wine, while practising my heart with wisdom; and how to lay hold on folly, till I should see what was that good for the children of men which they should do under the heavens all the days of their life. 2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; 2:5 I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of every kind of fruit; 2:6 I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood, where the trees are reared. 2:7 I acquired servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that had been in Jerusalem before me. 2:8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the children of men, a wife and concubines. 2:9 And I became great, and increased more than all that had been before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. 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 from all my labour. 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that it had cost me to do [them]; and behold, all was vanity and pursuit of the wind, and there was no profit under the sun. 2:12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what shall the man [do] that cometh after the king? -- that which hath already been done. 2:13 And I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as light excelleth darkness. 2:14 The wise man`s eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness; but I myself also perceived that one event happeneth to them all. 2:15 And I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool so will it happen even to me; and why was I then so wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 2:16 For there shall be no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; because everything is already forgotten in the days which come. And how dieth the wise even as the fool? 2:17 And I hated life; for the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and pursuit of the wind. 2:18 And I hated all my labour wherewith I had been toiling under the sun, because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. 2:19 And who knoweth whether he will be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour at which I have laboured, and wherein I have been wise under the sun. This also is vanity. 2:20 Then I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour wherewith I had laboured under the sun. 2:21 For there is a man whose labour hath been with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill, and who leaveth it to a man that hath not laboured therein, to be his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. 2:22 For what will man have of all his labour and of the striving of his heart, wherewith he hath wearied himself under the sun? 2:23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail vexation: even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity. 2:24 There is nothing good for man, but 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. 2:25 For who can eat, or who be eager, more than I? 2:26 For he 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 in God`s sight. This also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.