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?” ³I 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.

⁴I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself^(E) and planted vineyards.^(F) ⁵I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. ⁷I 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. ⁸I 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. ⁹I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem^(K) before me.^(L) In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

¹⁰I 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.
¹¹Yet 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

¹²Then 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)
¹³I saw that wisdom^(Q) is better than folly,^(R)
    just as light is better than darkness.
¹⁴The 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)

¹⁵Then 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.”
¹⁶For 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

¹⁷So 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) ¹⁸I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.^(Y) ¹⁹And 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. ²⁰So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹For 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. ²²What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?^(AA) ²³All their days their work is grief and pain;^(AB) even at night their minds do not rest.^(AC) This too is meaningless.

²⁴A 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) ²⁵for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?^(AG) ²⁶To 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.

Cross references

New International Version (NIV)