3. I decided to cheer myself up with wine while my mind was still thinking wisely. I wanted to find a way to enjoy myself and see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.
4. Then I did great things: I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
5. I made gardens and parks, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6. I made pools of water for myself and used them to water my growing trees.
7. I bought male and female slaves, and slaves were also born in my house. I had large herds and flocks, more than anyone in Jerusalem had ever had before.
8. I also gathered silver and gold for myself, treasures from kings and other areas. I had male and female singers and all the women a man could ever want.
9. I became very famous, even greater than anyone who had lived in Jerusalem before me. My wisdom helped me in all this.
10. Anything I saw and wanted, I got for myself;I did not miss any pleasure I desired.I was pleased with everything I did,and this pleasure was the reward for all my hard work.
11. But then I looked at what I had done,and I thought about all the hard work.Suddenly I realized it was useless, like chasing the wind.There is nothing to gain from anything we do here on earth.
12. Then I began to think again about being wise,and also about being foolish and doing crazy things.But after all, what more can anyone do?He can’t do more than what the other king has already done.
13. I saw that being wise is certainly better than being foolish,just as light is better than darkness.
14. Wise people see where they are going,but fools walk around in the dark.Yet I saw thatboth wise and foolish people end the same way.
15. I thought to myself,“What happens to a fool will happen to me, too,so what is the reward for being wise?”I said to myself,“Being wise is also useless.”
16. The wise person and the foolwill both die,and no one will remember either one for long.In the future, both will be forgotten.
17. So I hated life. It made me sad to think that everything here on earth is useless, like chasing the wind.
18. I hated all the things I had worked for here on earth, because I must leave them to someone who will live after me.
19. Someone else will control everything for which I worked so hard here on earth, and I don’t know if he will be wise or foolish. This is also useless.