2:1 I said ①to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So ②enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.
▷ ①Lit in my heart ②Lit consider with goodness
2:2 I said of laughter, “It is senseless,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”
2:3 I explored with my ①mind how to refresh my body with wine while my ②mind was guiding me wisely; and how to seize foolishness, until I could see what good there is for the sons of mankind ③to do under heaven for the few ④years of their lives.
▷ ①Lit heart ②Lit heart ③Lit which they do ④Lit days
2:4 I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself;
2:5 I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;
2:6 I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.
2:7 I bought male and female slaves, and I had ①slaves born at home. I also possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
▷ ①Lit sons
2:8 I also amassed for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers, and the pleasures of the sons of mankind: many concubines.
2:9 Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.
2:10 All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor.
2:11 So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had ①exerted, and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.
▷ ①Lit labored to do
2:12 So I turned to consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness; for what will the man do who will come after the king, except what has already been done?
2:13 Then I saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness.
2:14 The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to ①both of them.
▷ ①Lit all of
2:15 Then I said ①to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So ②I said to myself, “This too is futility.”
▷ ①Lit in my heart ②Lit I spoke in my heart
2:16 For there is no ①lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will ②soon be forgotten. And how the wise and the fool alike die!
▷ ①Lit forever ②Lit already
2:17 So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ①unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
▷ ①Lit evil
2:18 So I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
2:19 And who knows whether he will be wise 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 futility.
2:20 Therefore I ①completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.
▷ ①Lit turned aside my heart to despair
2:21 When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his ①legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil.
▷ ①Lit share
2:22 For what does a person get in all his labor and in ①his striving with which he labors under the sun?
▷ ①Lit the striving of his heart
2:23 Because all his days his activity is painful and irritating; even at night his ①mind does not rest. This too is futility.
▷ ①Lit heart
2:24 There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink, and show ①himself some good in his trouble. This too I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.
▷ ①Lit his soul
2:25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without ①Him?
▷ ①As in LXX; Heb me
2:26 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 futility and striving after wind.