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The Futility of Pleasure
I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.
I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.
So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”
I said of laughter — “Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.
I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.
I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.
I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.
I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.
I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.
I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!
So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.
Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.
But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless — like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
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 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.
I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly
As light excels darkness.
As light excels darkness.
For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.
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.
Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”
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 the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten.
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!
So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless — like chasing 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
I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.
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 can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!
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.
So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.
Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.
So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?
For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.
For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are 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.
God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless — like chasing 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.