| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. | 1I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility. |
| 2"Laughter," I said, "is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?" | 2I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?" |
| 3I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--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. | 3I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. |
| 4I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. | 4I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself; |
| 5I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. | 5I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; |
| 6I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. | 6I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. |
| 7I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. | 7I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. |
| 8I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well--the delights of a man's heart. | 8Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men-- many concubines. |
| 9I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. | 9Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by 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. | 10All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. |
| 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; nothing was gained under the sun. | 11Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun. |
| 12Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done? | 12So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done? |
| 13I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. | 13And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels 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. | 14The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both. |
| 15Then I said to myself, "The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?" I said to myself, "This too is meaningless." | 15Then I said to myself, "As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?" So I said to myself, "This too is vanity." |
| 16For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! | 16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! |
| 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. | 17So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind. |
| 18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. | 18Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. |
| 19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? 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. | 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity. |
| 20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. | 20Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored 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. | 21When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. |
| 22What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? | 22For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? |
| 23All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. | 23Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity. |
| 24A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, | 24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. |
| 25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? | 25For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? |
| 26To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. | 26For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God's sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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