Ecclesiastes 2:4-11
New International Version
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself(A) and planted vineyards.(B) 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves(C) who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold(D) for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.(E) I acquired male and female singers,(F) and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem(G) before me.(H) In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;(I)
nothing was gained under the sun.(J)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
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