Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 2"

Ecclesiastes 2

The Message Bible MSG

1 I said to myself, "Let's go for it - experiment with pleasure, have a good time!" But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke.

2 What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane! Inane! My verdict on the pursuit of happiness? Who needs it?

3 With the help of a bottle of wine and all the wisdom I could muster, I tried my level best to penetrate the absurdity of life. I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do during the years we spend on this earth. I Never Said No to Myself

4 Oh, I did great things: built houses, planted vineyards,

5 designed gardens and parks and planted a variety of fruit trees in them,

6 made pools of water to irrigate the groves of trees.

7 I bought slaves, male and female, who had children, giving me even more slaves; then I acquired large herds and flocks, larger than any before me in Jerusalem.

8 I piled up silver and gold, loot from kings and kingdoms. I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and - most exquisite of all pleasures - voluptuous maidens for my bed.

9 Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What's more, I kept a clear head through it all.

10 Everything I wanted I took - I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task - my reward to myself for a hard day's work!

11 Then I took a good look at everything I'd done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing.

12 And then I took a hard look at what's smart and what's stupid. What's left to do after you've been king? That's a hard act to follow. You just do what you can, and that's it.

13 But I did see that it's better to be smart than stupid, just as light is better than darkness.

14 Even so, though the smart ones see where they're going and the stupid ones grope in the dark, they're all the same in the end. One fate for all - and that's it.

15 When I realized that my fate's the same as the fool's, I had to ask myself, "So why bother being wise?" It's all smoke, nothing but smoke.

16 The smart and the stupid both disappear out of sight. In a day or two they're both forgotten. Yes, both the smart and the stupid die, and that's it.

17 I hate life. As far as I can see, what happens on earth is a bad business. It's smoke - and spitting into the wind.

18 And I hated everything I'd accomplished and accumulated on this earth. I can't take it with me - no, I have to leave it to whoever comes after me.

19 Whether they're worthy or worthless - and who's to tell? - they'll take over the earthly results of my intense thinking and hard work. Smoke.

20 That's when I called it quits, gave up on anything that could be hoped for on this earth.

21 What's the point of working your fingers to the bone if you hand over what you worked for to someone who never lifted a finger for it? Smoke, that's what it is. A bad business from start to finish.

22 So what do you get from a life of hard labor?

23 Pain and grief from dawn to dusk. Never a decent night's rest. Nothing but smoke.

24 The best you can do with your life is have a good time and get by the best you can. The way I see it, that's it - divine fate.

25 Whether we feast or fast, it's up to God.

26 God may give wisdom and knowledge and joy to his favorites, but sinners are assigned a life of hard labor, and end up turning their wages over to God's favorites. Nothing but smoke - and spitting into the wind.

World English Bible WEB

1 I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;" and, behold, this also was vanity.

2 I said of laughter, "It is foolishness;" and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"

3 I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.

4 I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.

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

6 I made myself pools of water, to water from it the forest where trees were reared.

7 I bought men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem;

8 I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men -- musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

9 So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.

10 Whatever my eyes desired, I didn't keep from them. I didn't withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.

11 Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

12 I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly: for what can the king's successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.

13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.

14 The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness -- and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

15 Then said I in my heart, "As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?" Then said I in my heart that this also is vanity.

16 For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory for ever, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!

17 So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

18 I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

19 Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

20 Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun.

21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored therein. This also is vanity and a great evil.

22 For what has a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?

23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?

26 For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.