1. I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless.
2. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”
3. I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
4. I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
5. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
7. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
8. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.
9. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.
11. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.