Ecclesiastes 2
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I x said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity.
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I y said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"
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I z searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine - my heart still guiding me with wisdom - and how to lay hold on a folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
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I made great works. I b built houses and planted c vineyards for myself.
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I made myself d gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
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I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
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I bought male and female slaves, and had e slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of f herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
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I also gathered for myself silver and g gold and the treasure of h kings and i provinces. I got j singers, both men and women, and many k concubines, the delight of the children of man.
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So I became great and l surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my l wisdom remained with me.
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And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart m found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my n reward for all my toil.
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Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was o vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing p to be gained under the sun.
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q So I turned to consider r wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only s what has already been done.
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Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
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t The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the u same event happens to all of them.
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Then I said in my heart, v "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
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For of the wise as of the fool there is w no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. x How the wise dies just like the fool!
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So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for o all is vanity and a striving after wind.
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I hated y all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must z leave it to the man who will come after me,
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and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
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So I a turned about and gave my heart up to despair b over all the toil of my labors under the sun,
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because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
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What has a man from c all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?
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For d all his days are full of sorrow, and his e work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
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f There is nothing better for a person than that he should g eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is h from the hand of God,
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for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
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For to the one who pleases him i God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given e the business of gathering and collecting, j only to give to one who pleases God. k This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
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Cross References
Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.
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Cross References
Proverbs 14:13
Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:17
And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 7:25
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.
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Cross References
1 Kings 7:1 - 12
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.
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Cross References
Song of Solomon 8:11
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
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Cross References
Song of Solomon 4:16
Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.
Song of Solomon 5:1
I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!
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Cross References
Genesis 14:14
When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
Genesis 15:3
And Abram said, "Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.
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Cross References
1 Kings 4:23
Ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.
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Cross References
1 Kings 9:28
And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.
1 Kings 10:10
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
1 Kings 10:14
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.
1 Kings 10:21
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.
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Cross References
1 Kings 4:21
Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
1 Kings 10:15
Besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:14
And Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "Thus says the Lord, By the servants of the governors of the districts." Then he said, "Who shall begin the battle?" He answered, "You.
Ezekiel 19:8
Then the nations set against him from provinces on every side; they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 19:35
I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
2 Chronicles 35:25
Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments.
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Cross References
1 Kings 11:3
He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
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1 Chronicles 29:25
And the Lord made Solomon very great in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.
Ecclesiastes 1:16
I said in my heart, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 29:25
And the Lord made Solomon very great in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.
Ecclesiastes 1:16
I said in my heart, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
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Cross References
Proverbs 8:31
Rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 3:22
So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
Ecclesiastes 5:18
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.
Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
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Ecclesiastes 1:3
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
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Ecclesiastes 7:25
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:17
And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:9 - 10
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
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Cross References
Proverbs 17:24
The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 3:19
For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 9:2 - 3
It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.
Psalms 49:10
For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 2:16
For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
Ecclesiastes 6:8
For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:11
There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 2:14
The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 2:11
Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:3
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
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Cross References
Psalms 39:6
Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
Psalms 49:10
For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 7:25
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:3
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
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Ecclesiastes 1:3
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
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Cross References
Job 5:7
But man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
Job 14:1
Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:13
And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 3:12 - 13
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live.
Ecclesiastes 3:22
So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
Ecclesiastes 5:18
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.
Ecclesiastes 8:15
And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
1 Timothy 6:17
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 9:7
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.
1 Corinthians 15:32
What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 3:13
Also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil - this is God's gift to man.
Ecclesiastes 5:19
Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil - this is the gift of God.
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Cross References
Job 32:8
But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 2:7
I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
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Cross References
Job 27:16 - 17
Though he heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay.
Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.
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Cross References
Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.