Ecclesiastes 2 — UBES
2Verse 1I said in my heart,
Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, and behold thou good:
And, behold, this is also vanity.
Verse 2I said to laughter, Madness:
And to mirth, Why doest thou this?Verse 3And I examined whether my heart
Would excite my flesh as with wine
(Though my heart guided me in wisdom),
And I desired to lay hold of mirth,
Until I should see of what kind is the good to the sons of men,
Which they should do under the sun
All the days of their life.
Verse 4I enlarged my work;
I built me houses;
I planted me vineyards.
Verse 5I made me gardens and orchards,
And planted in them every kind of fruit tree.
Verse 6I made me pools of water,
To water from them the timber-bearing wood.
Verse 7I got servants and maidens,
And servants were born to me in the house:
Also I had abundant possession of flocks and herds,
Beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem.
Verse 8Moreover I collected for myself both silver and gold also,
And the peculiar treasures of kings and provinces:
I procured me singing men and singing women,
And delights of the sons of men,
A butler and female cupbearers.Verse 9So I became great,
And advanced beyond all
That were before me in Jerusalem:
Also my wisdom was established to me.
Verse 10And whatever mine eyes desired,
I withheld not from them,
I withheld not my heart
From all my mirth:
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And this was my portion
Of all my labor.
Verse 11And I looked on all my works
Which my hands had wrought,
And on my labor which I labored to perform:
And, behold, all was vanity and waywardness of spirit,
And there is no advantage under the sun.Verse 12Then I looked on to see wisdom,
And madness, and folly:
For who is the man who will follow after counsel,
In all things wherein he employs it?
Verse 13And I saw that wisdom excels folly,
As much as light excels darkness.
Verse 14The wise man’s eyes are in his head;
But the fool walks in darkness:
And I perceived, even I,
That one event shall happen to them all.Verse 15And I said in my heart,
As the event of the fool is,
So shall it be to me, even to me;
And to what purpose have I gained wisdom?
I said moreover in my heart,
This is also vanity,
Because the fool speaks of his abundance.
Verse 16For there is no remembrance of the wise man
With the fool forever;
Forasmuch as now in the coming days
All things are forgotten:
And how shall the wise man die with the fool?Verse 17So I hated life;
Because the work that was wrought under the sun
Was evil before me:
For all is vanity and waywardness of spirit.
Verse 18And I hated the whole of my labor
Which I took under the sun;
Because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
Verse 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?
And whether he will have power over all my labor
In which I labored, and wherein I grew wise under the sun?
This is also vanity.
Verse 20So I went about to dismiss from my heart
All my labor wherein I had labored under the sun.
Verse 21For there is such a man that his labor
Is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in fortitude;
Yet this man shall give his portion
To one who has not labored therein.
This is also vanity and great evil.
Verse 22For it happens to a man in all his labor,
And in the purpose of his heart
Wherein he labors under the sun.
Verse 23For all his days
Are days of sorrows, and vexation of spirit is his;
In the night also his heart rests not.
This is also vanity.Verse 24A man has nothing really good
To eat, and to drink, and to show his soul
As good in his trouble.
This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
Verse 25For who shall eat, or who shall drink, without him?
Verse 26For God has given to the man
Who is good in his sight,
Wisdom, and knowledge, and joy:
But he has given to the sinner trouble,
To add and to heap up,
That he may give to him that is good before God;
For this is also vanity and waywardness of spirit.
Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, and behold thou good:
And, behold, this is also vanity.
Verse 2I said to laughter, Madness:
And to mirth, Why doest thou this?Verse 3And I examined whether my heart
Would excite my flesh as with wine
(Though my heart guided me in wisdom),
And I desired to lay hold of mirth,
Until I should see of what kind is the good to the sons of men,
Which they should do under the sun
All the days of their life.
Verse 4I enlarged my work;
I built me houses;
I planted me vineyards.
Verse 5I made me gardens and orchards,
And planted in them every kind of fruit tree.
Verse 6I made me pools of water,
To water from them the timber-bearing wood.
Verse 7I got servants and maidens,
And servants were born to me in the house:
Also I had abundant possession of flocks and herds,
Beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem.
Verse 8Moreover I collected for myself both silver and gold also,
And the peculiar treasures of kings and provinces:
I procured me singing men and singing women,
And delights of the sons of men,
A butler and female cupbearers.Verse 9So I became great,
And advanced beyond all
That were before me in Jerusalem:
Also my wisdom was established to me.
Verse 10And whatever mine eyes desired,
I withheld not from them,
I withheld not my heart
From all my mirth:
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And this was my portion
Of all my labor.
Verse 11And I looked on all my works
Which my hands had wrought,
And on my labor which I labored to perform:
And, behold, all was vanity and waywardness of spirit,
And there is no advantage under the sun.Verse 12Then I looked on to see wisdom,
And madness, and folly:
For who is the man who will follow after counsel,
In all things wherein he employs it?
Verse 13And I saw that wisdom excels folly,
As much as light excels darkness.
Verse 14The wise man’s eyes are in his head;
But the fool walks in darkness:
And I perceived, even I,
That one event shall happen to them all.Verse 15And I said in my heart,
As the event of the fool is,
So shall it be to me, even to me;
And to what purpose have I gained wisdom?
I said moreover in my heart,
This is also vanity,
Because the fool speaks of his abundance.
Verse 16For there is no remembrance of the wise man
With the fool forever;
Forasmuch as now in the coming days
All things are forgotten:
And how shall the wise man die with the fool?Verse 17So I hated life;
Because the work that was wrought under the sun
Was evil before me:
For all is vanity and waywardness of spirit.
Verse 18And I hated the whole of my labor
Which I took under the sun;
Because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
Verse 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?
And whether he will have power over all my labor
In which I labored, and wherein I grew wise under the sun?
This is also vanity.
Verse 20So I went about to dismiss from my heart
All my labor wherein I had labored under the sun.
Verse 21For there is such a man that his labor
Is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in fortitude;
Yet this man shall give his portion
To one who has not labored therein.
This is also vanity and great evil.
Verse 22For it happens to a man in all his labor,
And in the purpose of his heart
Wherein he labors under the sun.
Verse 23For all his days
Are days of sorrows, and vexation of spirit is his;
In the night also his heart rests not.
This is also vanity.Verse 24A man has nothing really good
To eat, and to drink, and to show his soul
As good in his trouble.
This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
Verse 25For who shall eat, or who shall drink, without him?
Verse 26For God has given to the man
Who is good in his sight,
Wisdom, and knowledge, and joy:
But he has given to the sinner trouble,
To add and to heap up,
That he may give to him that is good before God;
For this is also vanity and waywardness of spirit.