Ecclesiastes 2:1-3
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Emptiness of Pleasure
2 I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure;(A) enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile. 2 I said about laughter,(B) “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?” 3 I explored with my mind how to let my body enjoy life[a] with wine(C) and how to grasp folly(D)—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven[b] during the few days of their lives.(E)
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- Ecclesiastes 2:3 Lit to pull my body
- Ecclesiastes 2:3 Two Hb mss, LXX, Syr read the sun
Ecclesiastes 2:1-3
New International Version
Pleasures Are Meaningless
2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure(A) to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,”(B) I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine,(C) and embracing folly(D)—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11
Holman Christian Standard Bible
10 All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them.(A) I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.(B) 11 When I considered all that I had accomplished[a] and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind.(C) There was nothing to be gained under the sun.(D)
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- Ecclesiastes 2:11 Lit all my works that my hands had done
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11
New International Version
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;(A)
nothing was gained under the sun.(B)
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