New King James Version, 1982 - Ecclesiastes 2 (NKJV Bible)

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 (NKJV Bible)

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¹ I said [1†]in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with [2†]mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, [3†]this also was vanity.

² I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”

³ [4†]I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was [5†]good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

⁴ I made my works great, I built myself [6†]houses, and planted myself vineyards.

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

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

⁷ I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

⁸ [7†]I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.

⁹ [8†]So I became great and excelled [9†]more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰ Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And [10†]this was my reward from all my labor.

¹¹ Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was [11†]vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.

¹² Then I turned myself to consider wisdom [12†]and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— Only what he has already [13†]done.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom [14†]excels folly As light excels darkness.

¹⁴ [15†]The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That [16†]the same event happens to them all.

¹⁵ So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”

¹⁶ For there is [17†]no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!

¹⁷ Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁸ Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because [18†]I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

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

²⁰ Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.

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

²² [19†]For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?

²³ For all his days are [20†]sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

²⁴ [21†]Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.

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

²⁶ For God gives [22†]wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that [23†]he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

#	NKJV Bible
1	I said [1†]in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with [2†]mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, [3†]this also was vanity.
2	I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
3	[4†]I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was [5†]good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
4	I made my works great, I built myself [6†]houses, and planted myself vineyards.
5	I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6	I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.
7	I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
8	[7†]I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.
9	[8†]So I became great and excelled [9†]more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
10	Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And [10†]this was my reward from all my labor.
11	Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was [11†]vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
12	Then I turned myself to consider wisdom [12†]and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— Only what he has already [13†]done.
13	Then I saw that wisdom [14†]excels folly As light excels darkness.
14	[15†]The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That [16†]the same event happens to them all.
15	So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”
16	For there is [17†]no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!
17	Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18	Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because [18†]I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
19	And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
20	Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
21	For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22	[19†]For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
23	For all his days are [20†]sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24	[21†]Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
25	For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
26	For God gives [22†]wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that [23†]he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

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