Ecclesiastes 2 I said in my heart, Come now let me try thee with pleasure. Take a view of that considered as a good. But behold this also is vanity.

Thomson⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ I said in my heart, Come now let me try thee with pleasure. Take a view of that considered as a good. But behold this also is vanity. ² To laughter I said, It is madness; and to mirth, What is this thou art doing? ³ Now I had examined whether my mind could lead my flesh to wine; and my mind had led it with wisdom, retaining a command over pleasure, until I should see of what sort that good is, which the sons of men are to pursue under the sun, all the days of their life. ⁴ I enlarged my plan of operations. I built me houses. I planted me vineyards. ⁵ I made me gardens and orchards and planted therein all sorts of fruit trees. ⁶ I made me pools of water, to water from them my blooming nurseries. ⁷ I purchased men servants and maid servants; and had servants born in my family. And my stock of herds and flocks was great above all who were before me in Jerusalem. ⁸ I collected also for myself silver and gold and the choicest treasures of kings and countries. I got me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men; a butler and the requisites to entertainments. ⁹ And I was great and surpassed all who had been before me in Jerusalem; and still my wisdom continued with me. ¹⁰ And whatever mine eyes desired I withheld not from them, nor did I restrain my heart from all my pleasure. Because my heart had been gladdened with all my labour, [now this was my portion from all my labour] ¹¹ therefore I looked back on all the works which my hands had done, and on the labour with which I had toiled to execute them; and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit and there is no lasting advantage under the sun. ¹² Then I looked back to take a view of wisdom and madness and folly. In all the particulars which formed this deliberation [for who is the man equal to a compleat investigation] ¹³ I saw indeed that there is an advantage in wisdom above folly, like the advantage of light above darkness. ¹⁴ The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness. Nevertheless I knew that one event will happen to them all. ¹⁵ Therefore I said in my heart, As the same event will happen to me as happeneth to the fool, why have I studied wisdom? Why communed abundantly with my heart? Because even this is vanity; [since out of an abundance the fool speaketh] ¹⁶ because there is no remembrance forever of the wise man more than of the fool [seeing the days are now coming when all shall be for gotten and the wise must die as well as the fool] ¹⁷ therefore I hated the whole of this life; because the work which was done under the sun was toilsome to me; because all are vanity and vexation of spirit: ¹⁸ and I hated all this labour of mine for which I am toiling under the sun; because I must leave it to a man who is coming after me; ¹⁹ and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Now if he hath power over all my labour for which I have toiled and in which I have displayed wisdom under the sun; surely this is vanity. ²⁰ Then I turned about that my heart might state distinctly in every labour of mine in which I had toiled under the sun; ²¹ that here is a man whose labour hath been with wisdom and with knowledge, and with ability; and there is a man to whom, though he did not labour fur him, he shall give his portion. Surely this is vanity and a great vexation; ²² That such is the case with another man by all his labours and the vexation of his heart with which he toileth under the sun, ²³ that all his days are days of sorrow and his employment grief, and even at night his heart hath no rest. Surely this is vanity. ²⁴ [a] Hath not a man something good which he can eat and drink and which he can point out to his soul as a good by his labour? [b] With respect to that I saw indeed that even this is from the hand of God; ²⁵ for who can eat or who can drink without him? ²⁶ For to the man who is good in his sight he hath given wisdom and knowledge and joy; and to the sinner he hath given the trouble of gathering and heaping up to give to him who is good in the sight of God. So that this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.