{"meta":{"source":"Prime Bible","sourceUrl":"https://primebible.com","license":"Public domain (translation text); see citation policy at /citation-policy","organization":"501(c)(3) nonprofit — EIN 41-2531951","canonicalUrl":"https://primebible.com/erv/ecclesiastes/2","llmTxt":"https://primebible.com/llms.txt","generatedAt":"2026-05-29T22:35:31.882Z"},"reference":{"translation":"ERV","book":"Ecclesiastes","bookSlug":"ecclesiastes","chapter":2,"testament":"OLD"},"navigation":{"previousChapter":1,"nextChapter":3,"totalChapters":12,"totalVerses":26},"verses":[{"verseNumber":1,"text":"I SAID in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity."},{"verseNumber":2,"text":"I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?"},{"verseNumber":3,"text":"I searched in mine heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, mine heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under the heaven all the days of their life."},{"verseNumber":4,"text":"I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;"},{"verseNumber":5,"text":"I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit:"},{"verseNumber":6,"text":"I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared:"},{"verseNumber":7,"text":"I bought menservants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem:"},{"verseNumber":8,"text":"I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, concubines very many."},{"verseNumber":9,"text":"So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me."},{"verseNumber":10,"text":"And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them: I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labour; and this was my portion from all my labour."},{"verseNumber":11,"text":"Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun."},{"verseNumber":12,"text":"And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness and folly; for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done."},{"verseNumber":13,"text":"Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness."},{"verseNumber":14,"text":"The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all."},{"verseNumber":15,"text":"Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also was vanity."},{"verseNumber":16,"text":"For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been already forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!"},{"verseNumber":17,"text":"So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me: for all is vanity and a striving after wind."},{"verseNumber":18,"text":"And I hated all my labour wherein I laboured under the sun: seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me."},{"verseNumber":19,"text":"And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity."},{"verseNumber":20,"text":"Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labour wherein I had laboured under the sun."},{"verseNumber":21,"text":"For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil."},{"verseNumber":22,"text":"For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboureth under the sun?"},{"verseNumber":23,"text":"For all his days are but sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity."},{"verseNumber":24,"text":"There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God."},{"verseNumber":25,"text":"For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?"},{"verseNumber":26,"text":"For to the man that pleaseth him God giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind."}],"citation":{"inline":"Ecclesiastes 2 (ERV)","markdown":"[Ecclesiastes 2](https://primebible.com/erv/ecclesiastes/2)","sbl":"Prime Bible. *The Bible.* ERV. https://primebible.com/erv/ecclesiastes/2 (accessed 2026-05-29)."}}