Ecclesiastes 2:4-11

International Standard Version

A Testimony to Extravagant Works

⁴ With respect to my extravagant works, I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself. ⁵ I constructed gardens and orchards for myself, and within them I planted all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶ I built for myself water reservoirs to irrigate forests that produce trees.

A Testimony to Extravagant Possessions

⁷ I acquired male and female slaves, and had other slaves born in my house. I also acquired for myself increasing numbers of herds and flocks—more than anyone who had lived before me in Jerusalem. ⁸ I also accumulated silver, gold, and the wealth of kings and their kingdoms. I gathered around me both male and female singers, along with what delights a man—all sorts of mistresses.

A Testimony to Extravagant Position

⁹ So I became great, greater than anyone who had lived before me in Jerusalem. Throughout all of this, I remained wise. ¹⁰ Whenever I wanted something I had seen, I never refused that desire. Instead, I enjoyed everything I did, and this became the reward in what I had undertaken. ¹¹ Then I examined all of my accomplishments that I had brought about by my own efforts, including the work that I had labored so hard to complete—and it was all pointless, like chasing after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained on earth.