Ecclesiastes 2

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(Ecc 2:1) I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also {is} vanity.
(Ecc 2:2) I said of laughter, {It is} mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
(Ecc 2:3) I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine 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.
(Ecc 2:4) I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
(Ecc 2:5) I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all {kind of} fruits:
(Ecc 2:6) I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
(Ecc 2:7) I got {me} servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
(Ecc 2:8) I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, {as} musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
(Ecc 2:9) So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
(Ecc 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 of all my labour.
(Ecc 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.
(Ecc 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.
(Ecc 2:13) Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
(Ecc 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.
(Ecc 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.
(Ecc 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.
(Ecc 2:17) Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun {is} grievous unto me: for all {is} vanity and vexation of spirit.
(Ecc 2:18) Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
(Ecc 2:19) And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise {man} or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This {is} also vanity.
(Ecc 2:20) Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
(Ecc 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 therein shall he leave it {for} his portion. This also {is} vanity and a great evil.
(Ecc 2:22) For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
(Ecc 2:23) For all his days {are} sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
(Ecc 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.
(Ecc 2:25) For who can eat, or who else can hasten {hereunto}, more than I?
(Ecc 2:26) For {God} 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 before God. This also {is} vanity and vexation of spirit.
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