1. I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity.
2. I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
3. I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
4. I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.
5. I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.