| 2:1 | I said in my heart, Come now, I will test thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is] vanity. |
| 2:2 | I said of laughter, [It is] mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? |
| 2:3 | I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. |
| 2:4 | I made for myself great works; I built houses; I planted vineyards: |
| 2:5 | I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all [kind of] fruits: |
| 2:6 | I made me pools of water, to water with them the wood that bringeth forth trees: |
| 2:7 | I procured [me] male and female servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks above all that were in Jerusalem before me: |
| 2:8 | I gathered me also silver and gold, and the special treasure of kings and of the provinces: I procured me male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, [as] musical instruments, and of all sorts. |
| 2:9 | So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. |
| 2:10 | And whatever my 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 of all my labour. |
| 2:11 | Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun. |
| 2:12 | And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been already done. |
| 2:13 | Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. |
| 2:14 | The wise man's eyes [are] in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. |
| 2:15 | Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also [is] vanity. |
| 2:16 | For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool. |
| 2:17 | Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous to me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit. |
| 2:18 | Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it to the man that shall be after me. |
| 2:19 | And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour in which I have laboured, and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also vanity. |
| 2:20 | Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. |
| 2:21 | For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured in it shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity and a great evil. |
| 2:22 | For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, in which he hath laboured under the sun? |
| 2:23 | For all his days [are] sorrows, and his labour grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity. |
| 2:24 | [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] 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 else can hasten [to it], more than I? |
| 2:26 | For [God] giveth to a man who [is] good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth toil, to gather and to store up [wealth], that he may give to [him that is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit. |
Ecclesiastes 2 - Revised Webster Version
