1I said to myself, “Come, I will test myself with pleasure and get enjoyment”; but that too was futile.
2Of laughter I said, “It is madness!” And of pleasure, “What is the good of that?”
3I sought how to cheer my body with wine, and, though my mind was still guiding me with wisdom, how to pursue folly; I hoped to find out what was good for mortals to do under heaven during their brief span of life.
4I undertook great works; I built myself palaces and planted vineyards;
5I made myself gardens and orchards, planted with every kind of fruit tree.
6I constructed ponds from which to water a grove of growing trees;
7I acquired male and female slaves, and I had my home-born slaves as well; I owned possessions, more flocks and herds than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem;
8I also amassed silver and gold, the treasure of kings and provinces; I got for myself minstrels, male and female, and everything that affords delight.
9I achieved greatness, surpassing all my predecessors in Jerusalem; and my wisdom stood me in good stead.
10I did not refuse my eyes anything they coveted; I did not deny myself any pleasure. Indeed I found pleasure in all my labour, and for all my labour this was my reward.
11I considered my handiwork, all my labour and toil: it was futility, all of it, and a chasing of the wind, of no profit under the sun.
12Then I considered wisdom and madness and folly.
13I saw that wisdom is more profitable than folly, as light is more profitable than darkness:
14the wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in the dark. Yet I realized also that one and the same fate overtakes them both.
15So I thought, “I too shall suffer the fate of the fool. To what purpose have I been wise? Where is the profit? Even this”, I said to myself, “is futile.
16The wise person is remembered no longer than the fool, because in the days to come both will have been forgotten. Alas, both wise and foolish are doomed to die!”
17So I came to hate life, since everything that was done here under the sun was a trouble to me; for all is futility and a chasing of the wind.
18I came to hate all my labour and toil here under the sun, since I should have to leave its fruits to my successor. What will the king's successor do? Will he do what has been done before?
19Who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will have in his control all the fruits of my labour and skill here under the sun. This too is futility.
20Then I turned and gave myself up to despair, as I reflected on all my labour and toil here under the sun.
21For though someone toils with wisdom, knowledge, and skill he must leave it all to one who has spent no labour on it. This too is futility and a great wrong.
22What reward does anyone have for all his labour, his planning, and his toil here under the sun?
23His lifelong activity is pain and vexation to him; even in the night he has no peace of mind. This too is futility.
24To eat and drink and experience pleasure in return for his labours, this does not come from any good in a person: it comes from God.
25For without God who can eat with enjoyment?
26He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to whosoever is pleasing to him, while to the one who fails to please him is given the task of gathering and amassing wealth only to hand it over to someone else who does please God. This too is futility and a chasing of the wind.
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