⁶ and Baalath, as well as all Solomon’s storage towns, and all the towns for his chariots, the towns for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build, in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

¹⁰ Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure from all my toil, and this was my reward from all my toil.^{(A) 11} Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.^(B)

Wisdom and Joy Given to One Who Pleases God

¹² So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly, for what can the king’s successor do? Only what has already been done.^{(C) 13} Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.

Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.^{(D) 15} Then I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity.^{(E) 16} For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools? ¹⁷ So I hated life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.^(F)

¹⁸ I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to my successor,^{(G) 19} and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun,^{(H) 21} because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.^{(I) 22} What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun?^{(J) 23} For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.^(K)

²⁴ There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,^{(L) 25} for apart from him^[a] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? ²⁶ For to the one who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.^(M)

⁴ I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself;^(A)

¹² Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built fortresses and storage cities in Judah.

⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage towns that he built in Hamath.

Solomon’s Military and Commercial Activity

¹⁴ Solomon gathered together chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.^(A)

²⁶ Solomon gathered together chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.^(A)

¹⁸ Baalath, Tadmor in the wilderness, within the land, ¹⁹ as well as all of Solomon’s storage cities, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.^(A)

² He built the House of the Forest of the Lebanon one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.^(A)

⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,