Ecclesiastes 2:1

New Century Version

I said to myself, "I will try having fun. I will enjoy myself." But I found that this is also useless.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

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

King James Version
I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

English Standard Version
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity.

New American Standard Bible
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility.

Amplified Bible
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time." But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).

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

Geneva Bible (1587)
I said in mine heart, Goe to nowe, I will proue thee with ioy: therefore take thou pleasure in pleasant things: and beholde, this also is vanitie.

Legacy Standard Bible
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with gladness, so that you shall see good things." And behold, it too was vanity.

Berean Standard Bible
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!" But it proved to be futile.

Contemporary English Version
I said to myself, "Have fun and enjoy yourself!" But this didn't make sense.

Complete Jewish Bible
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test myself with pleasure and enjoying good things"; but this too was pointless.

Darby Translation
I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.

Easy-to-Read Version
I said to myself, "I should have fun—I should enjoy everything as much as I can." But I learned that this is also useless.

George Lamsa Translation
I SAID to my heart, Come now, I will prove you with joy; therefore enjoy good things; and, behold, this also is vanity.

Good News Translation
I decided to enjoy myself and find out what happiness is. But I found that this is useless, too.

Lexham English Bible
I said to myself, "Come! I will test pleasure to see whether it is worthwhile." But look, "This also is vanity!"

Literal Translation
I said in my heart, Come now, I will test you with mirth. Therefore, consider with goodness. And behold, this also is vanity.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The sayde I thus in my hert: Now go to, I wil take myne ease & haue good dayes. But lo, that was vanite also:

American Standard Version
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.

Bible in Basic English
I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
I said in my heart: 'Come now, I will try thee with mirth, and enjoy pleasure'; and, behold, this also was vanity.

King James Version (1611)
I said in mine heart, Goe to now, I wil prooue thee with mirth, therfore enioy pleasure: and behold, this also is vanitie.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde I thus in my heart: Nowe go to, I will take myne ease, and haue good dayes: But lo, that is vanitie also.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, and behold thou good: and, behold, this is also vanity.

English Revised Version
I SAID in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Y seide in myn hertez, Y schal go, and Y schal flowe in delicis, and Y schal vse goodis; and Y siy also that this was vanyte.

Update Bible Version
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, look, this also was vanity.

Webster's Bible Translation
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also [is] vanity.

New English Translation
I thought to myself, "Come now, I will try self-indulgent pleasure to see if it is worthwhile." But I found that it also is futile.

New King James Version
1 Kings 4:20-28">[xr] I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure"; but surely, this also was vanity.

New Living Translation
I said to myself, "Come on, let's try pleasure. Let's look for the ‘good things' in life." But I found that this, too, was meaningless.

New Life Bible
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with things that are fun. So have a good time." But see, this also was for nothing.

New Revised Standard
I said to myself, "Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself." But again, this also was vanity.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Said, I, in my heart, Come now! I will prove thee with gladness, and look thou on blessedness, - but lo! even that, was vanity.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I said in my heart: I will go, and abound with delights, and enjoy good things. And I saw that this also was vanity.

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

Young's Literal Translation
I said in my heart, `Pray, come, I try thee with mirth, and look thou on gladness;' and lo, even it [is] vanity.

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

New American Standard Bible (1995)
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility.

Contextual Overview

¹ I said to myself, "I will try having fun. I will enjoy myself." But I found that this is also useless. ² It is foolish to laugh all the time, and having fun doesn't accomplish anything. ³ I decided to cheer myself up with wine while my mind was still thinking wisely. I wanted to find a way to enjoy myself and see what was good for people to do during their few days of life. ⁴ Then I did great things: I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. ⁵ I made gardens and parks, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶ I made pools of water for myself and used them to water my growing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves, and slaves were also born in my house. I had large herds and flocks, more than anyone in Jerusalem had ever had before. ⁸ I also gathered silver and gold for myself, treasures from kings and other areas. I had male and female singers and all the women a man could ever want. ⁹ I became very famous, even greater than anyone who had lived in Jerusalem before me. My wisdom helped me in all this. ¹⁰ Anything I saw and wanted, I got for myself; I did not miss any pleasure I desired. I was pleased with everything I did, and this pleasure was the reward for all my hard work.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

said: Ecclesiastes 2:15, Ecclesiastes 1:16, Ecclesiastes 1:17, Ecclesiastes 3:17, Ecclesiastes 3:18, Psalms 10:6, Psalms 14:1, Psalms 27:8, Psalms 30:6, Psalms 30:7, Luke 12:19

Go to: Genesis 11:3, Genesis 11:4, Genesis 11:7, 2 Kings 5:5, Isaiah 5:5, James 4:13, James 5:1

I will: Ecclesiastes 8:15, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Isaiah 50:5, Isaiah 50:11, Luke 16:19, Luke 16:23, James 5:5, Titus 3:3, Revelation 18:7, Revelation 18:8

Reciprocal: Psalms 127:2 - vain Ecclesiastes 2:25 - who can Ecclesiastes 7:25 - I applied mine heart Ecclesiastes 10:19 - feast Ecclesiastes 11:8 - All that

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the sky and the earth.

Genesis 1:10
God named the dry land "earth" and the water that was gathered together "seas." God saw that this was good.

Genesis 2:3
God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day, because on that day he rested from all the work he had done in creating the world.

Genesis 2:4
This is the story of the creation of the sky and the earth. When the Lord God first made the earth and the sky,

Genesis 2:5
there were still no plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the Lord God had not yet made it rain on the land. And there was no person to care for the ground,

Genesis 2:8
Then the Lord God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man he had formed into it.

Genesis 2:11
The first river, named Pishon, flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Genesis 2:13
The second river, named Gihon, flows around the whole land of Cush.

Exodus 20:11
The reason is that in six days the Lord made everything—the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. On the seventh day he rested. So the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 31:17
The Sabbath day will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, because in six days I, the Lord , made the sky and the earth. On the seventh day I did not work; I rested.'"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I said in mine heart,.... He communed with his heart, he thought and reasoned within himself, and came to this resolution in his own mind; that since he could not find happiness in natural wisdom and knowledge, he would seek for it elsewhere, even in pleasure; in which, he observed, some men placed their happiness; or, however, sought for it there: or, "I said to my heart", as the Syriac version;

Go to now; or, "go, I pray thee" u listen to what I am about to say, and pursue the track I shall now point out to thee;

I will prove thee with mirth; with those things which will cause mirth, joy, and pleasure; and try whether any happiness can be enjoyed this way, since it could not be had in wisdom and knowledge. Jarchi and Aben Ezra render it, "I will mingle", wine with water, or with spices; or, "I will pour out", wine in plenty to drink of, "with joy", and to promote mirth: but the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, interpret it as we do, and which sense Aben Ezra makes mention of;

therefore enjoy pleasure; which man is naturally a lover of; he was so in his state of innocency, and this was the bait that was laid for him, and by which he was drawn into sin; and now he loves, lives in, and serves sinful pleasures; which are rather imaginary than real, and last but for a season, and end in bitterness: but such sordid lusts and pleasures are not here meant; Solomon was too wise and good a man to give into these, as the "summum bonum"; or ever to think there could be any happiness in them, or even to make a trial of them for that purpose: not criminal pleasures, or an impure, sottish, and epicurean life, are here intended; but manly, rational, and lawful pleasures, for no other are mentioned in the detail of particulars following; and, in the pursuit of the whole, he was guided and governed by his wisdom, and that remained in him, Ecclesiastes 2:3. It may be rendered, "therefore see good" w; look upon all the good, pleasant, and delectable things of life; and enjoy them in such a manner as, if possible, happiness may be attained in them;

and, behold, this also [is] vanity; it will be found, by making the experiment, that there is no solid and substantial happiness in it, as it was by himself.

u לכה נא "age, quaeso", Tigurine version, Vatablus, Rambachius. w וראה בטוב "et vide in bonum", Montanus; "et vide bonum", Vatablus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Gejerus; "fraere bono", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Amama, Rambachius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Solomon’s trial of God’s second gift, namely, riches, and the enjoyment which riches supply; this brought him to the sane result (compare Ecclesiastes 1:12).

Comparing Solomon’s action with Luke 12:16-21, it must be remembered that Solomon’s object was the acquisition of wisdom, not self-indulgence, and that he did not fail to look forward to the certainty of death overtaking him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER II

The vanity of human courses in the works of pleasure,

planting, equipage, amassing wealth, c., 1-11.

Wisdom preferable to folly, 12-14

yet little difference between the wise and the foolish in

the events of life, 15-17.

The vanity of amassing wealth for heirs, when whether they

will be foolish or wise cannot be ascertained, 18-21.

There is much sorrow in the labour of man, 22, 23.

We should enjoy what the providence of God gives, 25, 26.

NOTES ON CHAP. I

Verse Ecclesiastes 2:1. I will prove thee with mirth — This is well expressed by the author so often referred to. Having tried speculative knowledge in vain, passion and appetite whisper, -

"From the rugged thorny road

Of wisdom, which so ill repays thy toil,

Turn back, and enter pleasure's flowery paths.

Go, take thy fill of joy; to passion give

The reins; nor let one serious thought restrain

What youth and affluence prompt."