| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire! |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. The Wise and the Foolish |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king? ). |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!” |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind. The Futility of Work |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless! |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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