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The Futility of Pleasures
I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.
I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.
I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?
I said of laughter — “Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
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.
I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;
I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.
I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of every kind of fruit;
I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood, where the trees are reared.
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.
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.
And I became great, and increased more than all that had been before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
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.
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.
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.
The Wise and the Foolish
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.
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.
The End of the Wise and the Fool
Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king? —
Only what he has already done.
Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king? —
Only what he has already done.
And I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as light excelleth darkness.
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly
As light excels darkness.
As light excels darkness.
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.
The wise man’s eyes are in his head,
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
That the same event happens to them all.
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
That the same event happens to them all.
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.
So I said in my heart,
“As it happens to the fool,
It also happens to me,
And why was I then more wise?”
Then I said in my heart,
“This also is vanity.”
“As it happens to the fool,
It also happens to me,
And why was I then more wise?”
Then I said in my heart,
“This also is vanity.”
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?
For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,
Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wise man die?
As the fool!
Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wise man die?
As the fool!
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.
Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
The Futility of Work
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.
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.
Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
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.
And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
Then I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour wherewith I had laboured under the sun.
Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
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.
For what will man have of all his labour and of the striving of his heart, wherewith he hath wearied himself under the sun?
For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail vexation: even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
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.
Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
For who can eat, or who be eager, more than I?
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.
For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.