KJV Ecclesiastes Chapter 2
1 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.