The Grief of Wisdom

¹² I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I set my heart to seek and ^(A)search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; ^(B)this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be ^[a]exercised. ¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁶ I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained ^(D)more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has ^[b]understood great wisdom and knowledge.” ^17 (E)And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.

The Vanity of Pleasure^(A)

2 I said ^(B)in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with ^(C)mirth; ^[a]therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, ^(D)this also was vanity. ² I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” ^3 (E)I searched in my heart how ^[b]to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was ^(F)good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

⁴ I made my works great, I built myself ^(G)houses, and planted myself vineyards. ⁵ I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶ I made myself water pools from which to ^[c]water the growing trees of the grove. ⁷ I acquired male and female servants, and had ^[d]servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. ^8 (H)I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and ^[e]musical instruments of all kinds.

^9 (I)So I became great and ^[f]excelled ^(J)more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁷ Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁸ Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because ^(A)I must leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. ²¹ For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his ^[a]heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ^22 (B)For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? ²³ For all his days are ^(C)sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

^24 (D)Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. ²⁵ For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, ^[b]more than I? ²⁶ For God gives ^(E)wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that ^(F)he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

⁴ I made my works great, I built myself ^(A)houses, and planted myself vineyards.

⁵ I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.

Wealth Is Not the Goal of Life

6 There^(A) is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: ² A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, ^(B)so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; ^(C)yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil ^[a]affliction.

³ If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or ^(D)indeed he has no burial, I say that ^(E)a ^[b]stillborn child is better than he— ⁴ for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. ⁵ Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, ⁶ even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one ^(F)place?

Obey Authorities for God’s Sake

² I say, “Keep the king’s commandment ^(A)for the sake of your oath to God. ^3 (B)Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”

⁹ All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

Death Comes to All

¹⁰ Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were ^(H)forgotten^[c] in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. ^11 (I)Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. ^12 (J)Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that ^(K)it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. ¹³ But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

¹⁴ There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it ^(L)happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the ^(M)righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

^15 (N)So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

Wisdom Superior to Folly

¹³ This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: ^14 (A)There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great ^[a]snares around it. ¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then I said: