Welcome to our website where we explore the Bible! Pleasure to meet you here!
May your journey into the world of the Holy Scriptures be engaging and inspiring!
You can change reading language: uk ru
Parallel
New King James Version
New American Standard Bible
The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.
I said of laughter — “Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”
I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.
I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.
I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself;
I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;
I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.
I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men — many concubines.
Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.
All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.
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.
Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.
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.
Wisdom Excels Folly
So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly
As light excels darkness.
As light excels darkness.
And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
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.
The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both.
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.”
Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.”
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!
For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die!
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.
So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
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.
The Futility of Labor
Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
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.
And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.
Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.
When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.
For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?
For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.
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.
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.
For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?
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.
For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.