1I said, I, in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with joy, and see good"; and behold, also this is vanity.
2Of laughter I said, "Mad," and of joy, "What does this do?"
3I sought in my heart to draw my flesh (basar) with wine, and my heart leading with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly, until I might see which is good for the sons of man (adam) that they should do under the heavens the number of the days of their life (chai).
4I made great my works; I built for myself houses; I planted for myself vineyards.
5I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted in them every tree of fruit.
6I made for myself pools of water, to water from them a forest sprouting trees.
7I acquired servants and maidservants, and sons of the house were mine; also cattle, herd and flock, much was mine, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.
8I gathered for myself also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and the provinces; I made for myself men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of man (adam), a concubine and concubines.
9And I became great and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom stood by me.
10And all that my eyes asked I did not keep from them; I did not withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced from all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.
11And I, I turned to all my works that my hands had done, and to the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a striving after spirit (ruach), and there was no profit under the sun.
12And I turned, I, to see wisdom and madness and folly; for what is the man (adam) who will come after the king? That which they have already done.
13And I saw, I, that there is profit to wisdom over folly, like the profit of light over darkness.
14The wise man, his eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness; and I knew, also I, that one event happens to them all.
15And I said, I, in my heart, "As the event of the fool, also to me it will happen; and why was I then wise, I, exceedingly?" And I spoke in my heart that this also is vanity.
16For there is no remembrance of the wise man with the fool forever, since in the days to come all is already forgotten; and how does the wise man die with the fool!
17And I hated life (chai), for evil to me was the work that is done under the sun; for all is vanity and a striving after spirit (ruach).
18And I hated, I, all my labor that I labor under the sun, that I must leave it to the man (adam) who will be after me.
19And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor that I labored and that I showed wisdom in under the sun. Also this is vanity.
20And I turned, I, to make my heart despair concerning all the labor that I labored under the sun.
21For there is a man (adam) whose labor is with wisdom and with knowledge and with skill, yet to a man (adam) who did not labor in it he must give it as his portion. Also this is vanity and a great evil.
22For what is there to man (adam) in all his labor and in the striving of his heart that he labors under the sun?
23For all his days are pains, and his task is vexation; also in the night his heart does not lie down. Also this is vanity it is.
24There is nothing good in man (adam) than that he should eat and drink and make his soul (nephesh) see good in his labor. Also this I saw, I, that it is from the hand of God.
25For who eats and who hastens apart from me?
26For to a man (adam) who is good before Him He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He has given the task to gather and to heap up, to give to the one who is good before God. Also this is vanity and a striving after spirit (ruach).