Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 2

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 I thought to myself, 'Very wel , I wil try pleasure and see what enjoyment has to offer.' And this wasfutile too.	1 I said to myself, "Come, now, let me try you with pleasure and the enjoyment of good things." But behold, this too was vanity.
2 This laughter, I reflected, is a madness, this pleasure no use at al .	2 Of laughter I said: "Mad!" and of mirth: "What good does this do?"
3 I decided to hand my body over to drinking wine, my mind still guiding me in wisdom; I resolved toembrace folly, to discover the best way for people to spend their days under the sun.	3 I thought of beguiling my senses with wine, though my mind was concerned with wisdom, and of taking up folly, until I should understand what is best for men to do under the heavens during the limited days of their life.
4 I worked on a grand scale: built myself palaces, planted vineyards;	4 I undertook great works; I built myself houses and planted vineyards;
5 made myself gardens and orchards, planting every kind of fruit tree in them;	5 I made gardens and parks, and set out in them fruit trees of all sorts.
6 had pools made for watering the young trees of my plantations.	6 And I constructed for myself reservoirs to water a flourishing woodland.
7 I bought slaves, male and female, had home-born slaves as wel ; herds and flocks I had too, more thananyone in Jerusalem before me.	7 I acquired male and female slaves, and slaves were born in my house. I also had growing herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem.
8 I amassed silver and gold, the treasures of kings and provinces; acquired singers, men and women,and every human luxury, chest upon chest of it.	8 I amassed for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of kings and provinces. I got for myself male and female singers and all human luxuries.
9 So I grew great, greater than anyone in Jerusalem before me; nor did my wisdom leave me.	9 I became great, and I stored up more than all others before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom, too, stayed with me.
10 I denied my eyes nothing that they desired, refused my heart no pleasure, for I found all my hard worka pleasure, such was the return for al my efforts.	10 Nothing that my eyes desired did I deny them, nor did I deprive myself of any joy, but my heart rejoiced in the fruit of all my toil. This was my share for all my toil.
11 I then reflected on al that my hands had achieved and all the effort I had put into its achieving. Whatfutility it al was, what chasing after the wind! There is nothing to be gained under the sun.	11 But when I turned to all the works that my hands had wrought, and to the toil at which I had taken such pains, behold! all was vanity and a chase after wind, with nothing gained under the sun.
12 My reflections then turned to wisdom, stupidity and fol y. For instance, what can the successor of aking do? What has been done already.	12 For what will the man do who is to come after the king? What men have already done! I went on to the consideration of wisdom, madness and folly.
13 More is to be gained from wisdom than from fol y, just as one gains more from light than fromdarkness; this, of course, I see:	13 And I saw that wisdom has the advantage over folly as much as light has the advantage over darkness.
14 The wise have their eyes open, the fool walks in the dark. No doubt! But I know, too, that one fateawaits them both.	14 The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.Yet I knew that one lot befalls both of them.
15 'Since the fool's fate', I thought to myself, 'will be my fate too, what is the point of my having beenwise?' I realised that this too is futile.	15 So I said to myself, if the fool's lot is to befall me also, why then should I be wise? Where is the profit for me? And I concluded in my heart that this too is vanity.
16 For there is no lasting memory for the wise or the fool, and in the days to come both will be forgotten;the wise, no less than the fool, must die.	16 Neither of the wise man nor of the fool will there be an abiding remembrance, for in days to come both will have been forgotten. How is it that the wise man dies as well as the fool!
17 Life I have come to hate, for what is done under the sun disgusts me, since al is futility and chasingafter the wind.	17 Therefore I loathed life, since for me the work that is done under the sun is evil; for all is vanity and a chase after wind.
18 All I have toiled for under the sun and now bequeath to my successor I have come to hate;	18 And I detested all the fruits of my labor under the sun, because I must leave them to a man who is to come after me.
19 who knows whether he wil be wise or a fool? Yet he wil be master of al the work into which I have putmy efforts and wisdom under the sun. That is futile too.	19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruits of my wise labor under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 I have come to despair of all the efforts I have expended under the sun.	20 So my feelings turned to despair of all the fruits of my labor under the sun.
21 For here is one who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successful y and must leave what is his own tosomeone who has not toiled for it at al . This is futile too, and grossly unjust;	21 For here is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and to another, who has not labored over it, he must leave his property. This also is vanity and a great misfortune.
22 for what does he gain for al the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun-	22 For what profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun?
23 since his days are ful of sorrow, his work is ful of stress and even at night he has no peace of mind?This is futile too.	23 All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest. This also is vanity.
24 There is no happiness except in eating and drinking, and in enjoying one's achievements; and I seethat this too comes from God's hand;	24 There is nothing better for man than to eat and drink and provide himself with good things by his labors. Even this, I realized, is from the hand of God.
25 for who would get anything to eat or drink, unless al this came from him?	25 For who can eat or drink apart from him?
26 Wisdom, knowledge and joy, God gives to those who please him, but on the sinner he lays the task ofgathering and storing up for someone else who is pleasing to him. This too is futility and chasing after the wind.	26 For to whatever man he sees fit he gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering possessions to be given to whatever man God sees fit. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.