1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with joy; enjoy what is good.” But look, this too was vanity. 2 Of laughter I said, “It is madness,” and of joy, “What does it accomplish?” 3 I explored in my heart how to cheer my body with wine, while my heart guided me in wisdom, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what is good for mankind to do under heaven during the numbered days of their lives. 4 I made my works great. I built houses for myself and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made gardens and parks for myself and planted in them every kind of fruit tree. 6 I made pools of water for myself, to water from them a woodland of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves born in my house. I also had many herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasures of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and the delights of mankind—concubines in abundance. 9 I became great and surpassed all who were in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom also remained with me. 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not withhold from them; I denied my heart no joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my toil. This was my portion from all my toil. 11 Then I considered all the works my hands had done and the toil at which I had toiled to do them, and look, all was vanity and a pursuit of wind; there was no gain under the sun. 12 Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13 I saw that wisdom has an advantage over folly, just as light has an advantage over darkness. 14 The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that the same fate befalls them all. 15 Then I said in my heart, “What befalls the fool will befall me too. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart, “This too is vanity.” 16 For a wise man, like a fool, will not be remembered forever; in the days to come all will already have been forgotten. How the wise man dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because the work done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a pursuit of wind. 18 I hated all my toil at which I toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. 19 Who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will rule over all the toil at which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This too is vanity. 20 So I turned to despair in my heart over all the toil at which I had toiled under the sun. 21 For a man may toil with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, yet leave his portion to a man who did not toil for it. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what does a man have from all his toil and the striving of his heart at which he toils under the sun? 23 For all his days are pain, and his occupation is grief; even at night his heart does not rest. This too is vanity. 24 There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This too, I saw, is from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, and who can enjoy more than I? 26 For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating, to give to the one who pleases God. This too is vanity and a pursuit of wind.