| 1 | I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also {is} vanity. |
| 2 | I said of laughter, {It is} mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? |
| 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. |
| 4 | I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: |
| 5 | I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all {kind of} fruits: |
| 6 | I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: |
| 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: |
| 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. |
| 9 | So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 13 | Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 20 | Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. |
| 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. |
| 22 | For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? |
| 23 | For all his days {are} sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity. |
| 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. |
| 25 | For who can eat, or who else can hasten {hereunto}, more than I? |
| 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. |