Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

1I said to myself, ‘I will enjoy the good things of life. I will see if that helps me to be happy.’ But I realized that this too had no purpose.

2I said, ‘It is foolish to laugh all the time. If I only try to please myself, it does not really help me.’

3I thought about wine. If I drink a lot of wine, I thought that might make me happy. I might enjoy foolish things. I used wisdom to think about this. People only live for a short time on the earth. I thought this might be the best way for people to enjoy life.

4I also did a lot of great things for myself. I built houses. I planted vineyards.

5I made gardens and fields of trees. I planted many different kinds of fruit trees in them.

6I made large pools of water. I used the water to help my trees to grow well.

7I bought male slaves and female slaves. Their children became my slaves too. I had many animals, including sheep, goats and cows. I had more animals than any of the rulers in Jerusalem who lived before me.

8I stored a lot of silver and gold for myself. Other kings and rulers paid me with many valuable things. I had men and women who would sing for me. I had many beautiful slave wives to give me as much pleasure as any man could want.

9As a result, I was greater than anyone who had ever lived in Jerusalem before me. And I continued to follow the way of wisdom.

10If I saw something that I wanted I took it for myself. If something would give me pleasure, I did it. So all my work made me very happy. My hard work gave me things to enjoy.

11Then I thought about everything that I had done, and all my hard work. After all that, I realized that none of these things had a purpose. I was like somebody who tries to catch the wind. None of the things on earth have any value.