Ecclesiastes 2:4-18

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.

12Then I decided to think about wisdom. I also thought about foolish ways to live. I thought, ‘The next king will not do any more than I have already done.’

13I realized that it is better to be wise than foolish. In the same way, the light is better than the dark.

14Wise people can see where they are going. Foolish people walk in the dark. But at the end of their lives, there is no difference. They both die.

15Then I thought, ‘I will also die, as foolish people do. So what value have I received from my great wisdom?’ I said to myself, ‘Wisdom too has no purpose.’

16People forget about wise people as quickly as they forget about fools. One day, nobody will remember any of them. It is true! As fools all have to die, wise people will also die.

17So I hated life. Everything that happens on the earth only brings me trouble. Nothing has any purpose. It is as useless as somebody who tries to catch the wind.

18I thought about all the hard work that I have done here on the earth. When I die, all the things that I worked so hard to get will belong to the next king. So I hated all my hard work.