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Ecclesiastes 2
Amplified Bible
Ecclesiastes 2
Amplified Bible
The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions
2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time.” But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).(A) 2 I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” 3 I explored with my mind how to gratify myself with wine while [at the same time] having my mind remain steady and guide me wisely; and how to take control of foolishness, until I could see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. 4 I made great works: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself; 5 I made gardens and orchards for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; 6 I made pools of water for myself from which to water the forest and make the trees bud. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my house. I also possessed herds and flocks larger than any who preceded me in Jerusalem. 8 Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male singers and female singers, and the delights and pleasures of men—[a]many [b]concubines.(B)
9 So I became great and excelled more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me. 10 Whatever my eyes looked at with desire I did not refuse them. I did not withhold from my heart any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor. 11 Then I considered all which my hands had done and labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and chasing after the wind and there was no profit (nothing of lasting value) under the sun.(C)
Wisdom Excels Folly
12 So I turned to consider [secular] wisdom, madness, and folly; for what will the man do who succeeds the king? Nothing except what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that [even secular] wisdom [that brings sorrow] is better than [the pleasures of] folly and self-indulgence as light excels darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I know that [in the end] one fate happens to them both.(D) 15 Then I said to myself, “As it happens to the fool, so death will also happen to me. What use is it then for me to be extremely wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This too is vanity (meaningless).” 16 For there is no [more] lasting remembrance of the wise man than of the fool, since in the days to come all will be long forgotten. And how does the wise man die? Even as the fool! 17 So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun caused me only great sorrow; because all is futility and chasing after the wind.
The Futility of Labor
18 So I hated all the fruit (gain) of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will succeed me.(E) 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man 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 vanity (futility, self-conceit). 20 So I turned aside and let my heart despair over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21 For there is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, yet gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what does a man get from all his labor and from the striving and sorrow of his heart with which he labors under the sun? 23 For all his days his work is painful and sorrowful; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity (worthless).
24 There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and assure himself that there is good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? 26 For to the person who pleases Him God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who pleases God. This too is vanity and chasing after the wind.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:8 Solomon’s reign began under most promising conditions, but soon his own “wisdom” alone was guiding him. He openly affronted God by taking many wives, including pagan women. They seduced him into tolerating and later practicing idolatry (1 Kin 11:1ff).
- Ecclesiastes 2:8 See note Gen 22:24.
Ecclesiastes 2
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 2
English Standard Version
The Vanity of Self-Indulgence
2 I (A)said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.[a] 2 I (B)said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I (C)searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on (D)folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works. I (E)built houses and planted (F)vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself (G)gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had (H)slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of (I)herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and (J)gold and the treasure of (K)kings and (L)provinces. I got (M)singers, both men and women, and many (N)concubines,[b] the delight of the sons of man.
9 So I became great and (O)surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my (P)wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart (Q)found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my (R)reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was (S)vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing (T)to be gained under the sun.
The Vanity of Living Wisely
12 (U)So I turned to consider (V)wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only (W)what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 (X)The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the (Y)same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, (Z)“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is (AA)no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. (AB)How the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for (AC)all is vanity and a striving after wind.
The Vanity of Toil
18 I hated (AD)all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must (AE)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 be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I (AF)turned about and gave my heart up to despair (AG)over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from (AH)all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For (AI)all his days are full of sorrow, and his (AJ)work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
24 (AK)There is nothing better for a person than that he should (AL)eat and drink and find enjoyment[c] in his toil. This also, I saw, is (AM)from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him[d] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him (AN)God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given (AO)the business of gathering and collecting, (AP)only to give to one who pleases God. (AQ)This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:1 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26 (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 Or and make his soul see good
- Ecclesiastes 2:25 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts apart from me
Ecclésiaste 2
Nouvelle Edition de Genève – NEG1979
Ecclésiaste 2
Nouvelle Edition de Genève – NEG1979
Vanité des plaisirs, des richesses et du travail
2 J’ai dit en mon cœur: Allons! je t’éprouverai par la joie, et tu goûteras le bonheur. Et voici, c’est encore là une vanité. 2 J’ai dit du rire: Insensé! et de la joie: A quoi sert-elle? 3 Je résolus en mon cœur de livrer ma chair au vin, tandis que mon cœur me conduirait avec sagesse, et de m’attacher à la folie jusqu’à ce que je voie ce qu’il est bon pour les fils de l’homme de faire sous les cieux pendant le nombre des jours de leur vie. 4 J’exécutai de grands ouvrages: je me bâtis des maisons; je me plantai des vignes; 5 je me fis des jardins et des vergers, et j’y plantai des arbres fruitiers de toute espèce; 6 je me créai des étangs, pour arroser la forêt où croissaient les arbres. 7 J’achetai des serviteurs et des servantes, et j’eus leurs enfants nés dans la maison; je possédai des troupeaux de bœufs et de brebis, plus que tous ceux qui étaient avant moi dans Jérusalem. 8 Je m’amassai de l’argent et de l’or, et les richesses des rois et des provinces. Je me procurai des chanteurs et des chanteuses, et les délices des fils de l’homme, des femmes en grand nombre. 9 Je devins grand, plus grand que tous ceux qui étaient avant moi dans Jérusalem. Et même ma sagesse demeura avec moi. 10 Tout ce que mes yeux avaient désiré, je ne les en ai point privés; je n’ai refusé à mon cœur aucune joie; car mon cœur prenait plaisir à tout mon travail, et c’est la part qui m’en est revenue. 11 Puis, j’ai considéré tous les ouvrages que mes mains avaient faits, et la peine que j’avais prise à les exécuter; et voici, tout est vanité et poursuite du vent, et il n’y a aucun avantage à tirer de ce qu’on fait sous le soleil.
Le même sort pour tous
12 Alors j’ai tourné mes regards vers la sagesse, et vers la sottise et la folie. – Car que fera l’homme qui succédera au roi? Ce qu’on a déjà fait. – 13 Et j’ai vu que la sagesse a de l’avantage sur la folie, comme la lumière a de l’avantage sur les ténèbres; 14 le sage a ses yeux à la tête, et l’insensé marche dans les ténèbres. Mais j’ai reconnu aussi qu’ils ont l’un et l’autre un même sort. 15 Et j’ai dit en mon cœur: J’aurai le même sort que l’insensé; pourquoi donc ai-je été plus sage? Et j’ai dit en mon cœur que c’est encore là une vanité. 16 Car la mémoire du sage n’est pas plus éternelle que celle de l’insensé, puisque déjà les jours qui suivent, tout est oublié. Eh quoi! le sage meurt aussi bien que l’insensé! 17 Et j’ai haï la vie, car ce qui se fait sous le soleil m’a déplu, car tout est vanité et poursuite du vent. 18 J’ai haï tout le travail que j’ai fait sous le soleil, et dont je dois laisser la jouissance à l’homme qui me succédera. 19 Et qui sait s’il sera sage ou insensé? Cependant il sera maître de tout mon travail, de tout le fruit de ma sagesse sous le soleil. C’est encore là une vanité. 20 Et j’en suis venu à livrer mon cœur au désespoir, à cause de tout le travail que j’ai fait sous le soleil. 21 Car tel homme a travaillé avec sagesse et science et avec succès, et il laisse le produit de son travail à un homme qui ne s’en est point occupé. C’est encore là une vanité et un grand mal. 22 Que revient-il, en effet, à l’homme de tout son travail et de la préoccupation de son cœur, objet de ses fatigues sous le soleil? 23 Tous ses jours ne sont que douleur, et son partage n’est que chagrin; même la nuit son cœur ne repose pas. C’est encore là une vanité.
24 Il n’y a de bonheur pour l’homme qu’à manger et à boire, et à faire jouir son âme du bien-être, au milieu de son travail; mais j’ai vu que cela aussi vient de la main de Dieu. 25 Qui, en effet, peut manger et jouir, si ce n’est moi? 26 Car il donne à l’homme qui lui est agréable la sagesse, la science et la joie; mais il donne au pécheur le soin de recueillir et d’amasser, afin de donner à celui qui est agréable à Dieu. C’est encore là une vanité et la poursuite du vent.
Ecclesiastes 2
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2
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.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself(E) and planted vineyards.(F) 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(G) 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(H) for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.(I) I acquired male and female singers,(J) and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem(K) before me.(L) 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;(M)
nothing was gained under the sun.(N)
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.(O)
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?(P)
13 I saw that wisdom(Q) is better than folly,(R)
just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.(S)
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”(T)
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(U)
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(V)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(W)
Toil Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(X) 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.(Y) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(Z) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?(AA) 23 All their days their work is grief and pain;(AB) even at night their minds do not rest.(AC) This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink(AD) and find satisfaction in their own toil.(AE) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,(AF) 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?(AG) 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,(AH) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth(AI) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.(AJ) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Ecclesiastes 2
King James Version
Ecclesiastes 2
King James Version
2 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
14 The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?
26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Amplified Bible (AMP) 
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English Standard Version (ESV) 
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Nouvelle Edition de Genève – NEG1979 (NEG1979)
Nouvelle Edition de Genève Copyright © 1979 by Société Biblique de Genève
New International Version (NIV) 
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