Study Desk

Pleasures Are Meaningless

I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure^(a) to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless.

"Laughter,"^(b) I said, "is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?"

I tried cheering myself with wine,^(c) and embracing folly^(d)—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself^(e) and planted vineyards.^(f)

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

I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.

I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves^(g) who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

I amassed silver and gold^(h) for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.⁽ⁱ⁾ I acquired male and female singers,^(j) and a harem^[a] as well—the delights of a man's heart.

I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem^(k) before me.^(l) In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;^(m) nothing was gained under the sun.⁽ⁿ⁾

Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly.^(o) What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done?^(p)

I saw that wisdom^(q) is better than folly,^(r) just as light is better than darkness.

The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.^(s)

Then I said to myself, "The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?"^(t) I said to myself, "This too is meaningless."

For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;^(u) the days have already come when both have been forgotten.^(v) Like the fool, the wise too must die!^(w)

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(x)

I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.^(y)

And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?^(z) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.

So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.

For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.

What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?^(aa)

All their days their work is grief and pain;^(ab) even at night their minds do not rest.^(ac) This too is meaningless.

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink^(ad) and find satisfaction in their own toil.^(ae) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,^(af)

for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?^(ag)

To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,^(ah) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth^(ai) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.^(aj) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.