1 ARST Then I said to myself,“Well, I will try to do everything that I enjoy. I will find out whether doing what I enjoy can truly enable me to be happy.” But I found out that doing that was also useless. BSB BSB: I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.
2 ARST So I said to myself,“It is foolish to laugh all the time, and continually doing what makes me happy does not bring any lasting benefit.” BSB BSB: I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”
3 ARST So, after thinking a lot about it, I decided to cheer myself up by drinking a lot of wine. While I was still trying to be wise, I acted stupidly. I tried to learn what people can do to be happy during the short time that they are alive on the earth. BSB BSB: I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
4 ARST I did great things. I caused houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted. BSB BSB: I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
5 ARST I made gardens and parks. Then I planted the gardens with many kinds of fruit trees. BSB BSB: I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees.
6 ARST I built pools of water to store water to irrigate the fruit trees. BSB BSB: I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees.
7 ARST I bought male and female slaves. Babies who later became my slaves were born in my palace. I also owned more livestock than any of the previous kings in Jerusalem had owned. BSB BSB: I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me,
8 ARST I also accumulated large amounts of silver and gold that were acquired from the treasures of kings and rulers of provinces. I owned men and women who sang for me, and I had many wives and concubines, whom men all over the world would enjoy possessing. BSB BSB: and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.
9 ARST So I gained more power and wealth than any king who had ruled before me in Jerusalem, and I allowed my wisdom to continue to guide me. BSB BSB: So I became great and surpassed all in Jerusalem who had preceded me; and my wisdom remained with me.
10 ARST I got everything that I saw and wanted. I did everything that I thought would enable me to be happy. All the things that I enjoyed were like a reward for all my hard work. BSB BSB: Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 ARST But then I thought about all the hard work that I had done to obtain all those things. I saw that none of my work brought me any lasting benefit. It was all like trying to control the wind. BSB BSB: Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
12 ARST Then I started to think about being wise, and also about being foolish. I said to myself,“I certainly do not think that anybody will be able to do anything better than I can.” BSB BSB: Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?
13 ARST And I thought,“Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness, BSB BSB: And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
14 ARST because wise people walk in the daylight and can see where they are going, but foolish people walk in the darkness and cannot see where they are going.” But I also realized that both wise people and foolish people eventually die. BSB BSB: The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
15 ARST So I said to myself,“I am very wise, but I will die at the end of my life like foolish people do. So how has it benefited me to be very wise? I do not understand why people consider that it is valuable to be wise. BSB BSB: So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.
16 ARST Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten.” BSB BSB: For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!
17 ARST So I hated being alive, because all the work that we do here on the earth distressed me. It all seemed to be useless, like trying to control the wind. BSB BSB: So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
18 ARST I also began to hate all the hard work that I had done here on the earth, because when I die, everything that I have acquired will belong to the one who inherits it after me. BSB BSB: I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
19 ARST And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? But even if he is foolish, he will acquire all the things that I worked very hard and wisely to get. BSB BSB: And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.
20 ARST I thought about all the hard work that I had done in this world. It seemed useless, and I became depressed. BSB BSB: So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.
21 ARST Some people work wisely and skillfully, using the things that they have learned. But when they die, they leave everything, and someone who has not worked for those things acquires them. That fact also seemed to be senseless and caused me to be discouraged. BSB BSB: When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.
22 ARST So it is useless for people to work for all they do. BSB BSB: For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
23 ARST Every day the work that they do causes them to experience pain and to be worried. And during the night their minds are not able to rest. That also shows how temporary everything is. BSB BSB: Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
24 ARST So I decided that the best thing that we can do is to enjoy what we eat and drink, and also to enjoy our work. And I realized that those things are what God intends for us. BSB BSB: Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
25 ARST There is absolutely no one who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him. BSB BSB: For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment?
26 ARST God enables those who please him to be wise, to know many things, and to enjoy many things. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God can take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. However, the reason for that is also something that is difficult for me to understand. It seems useless that they worked so hard; it is like trying to control the wind. BSB BSB: To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.