1. I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.
2. I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?
3. I searched in my heart how to cherish my flesh with wine, while practising my heart with wisdom; and how to lay hold on folly, till I should see what was that good for the children of men which they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.
4. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;
5. I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of every kind of fruit;
6. I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood, where the trees are reared.
7. I acquired servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that had been in Jerusalem before me.
8. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the children of men, a wife and concubines.