Ecclesiastes 1:12-14; Ecclesiastes 2:1-7; Ecclesiastes 2:11; Ecclesiastes 2:18-23

Ecclesiastes 1:12-14

12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.

14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-7

1 I said to myself, "Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity.

2 I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"

3 I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine--my mind still guiding me with wisdom--and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

4 I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself;

5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

Ecclesiastes 2:11

11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:18-23

18 I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me;

19 and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,

21 because sometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

22 What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun?

23 For all his days are full of pain, and his work is a vexation; even in the night his mind does not rest. This also is vanity.