Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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1 I decided to enjoy myself and
find out what happiness is. But I
found that this is useless, too.
2 I discovered
that laughter is foolish, that
pleasure does you no good.
3 Driven
on by my desire for wisdom, I decided
to cheer myself up with wine
and have a good time. I thought that
this might be the best way people
can spend their short lives on earth.
4 I accomplished great things. I
built myself houses and planted
vineyards.
5 I planted gardens and
orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees
in them;
6 I dug ponds to irrigate
them.
7 I bought many slaves, and
there were slaves born in my household.
I owned more livestock than
anyone else who had ever lived in
Jerusalem. note
8 I also piled up silver and
gold from the royal treasuries of the
lands I ruled. Men and women sang
to entertain me, and I had all the
women a man could want. note note
9 Yes, I was great, greater than
anyone else who had ever lived in
Jerusalem, and my wisdom never
failed me. note
10 Anything I wanted, I
got. I did not deny myself any pleasure.
I was proud of everything I had
worked for, and all this was my reward.
11 Then I thought about all that
I had done and how hard I had
worked doing it, and I realized that
it didn't mean a thing. It was like
chasing the wind—of no use at all.
12 After all, a king can only do what
previous kings have done.
12 So I started thinking about what it
meant to be wise or reckless or foolish.
13 Oh, I know, “Wisdom is better
than foolishness, just as light is better
than darkness.
14 Wise men can
see where they are going, and fools
cannot.” But I also know that the
same fate is waiting for us all.
15 I
thought to myself, “What happens
to fools is going to happen to me,
too. So what have I gained from
being so wise?” “Nothing,” I answered,
“not a thing.”
16 No one remembers
wise men, and no one remembers
fools. In days to come, we
will all be forgotten. We must all
die—wise and foolish alike.
17 So life
came to mean nothing to me, because
everything in it had brought
me nothing but trouble. It had all
been useless; I had been chasing the
wind.
18 Nothing that I had worked for
and earned meant a thing to me, because
I knew that I would have to
leave it to my successor,
19 and he
might be wise, or he might be foolish
—who knows? Yet he will own
everything I have worked for, everything
my wisdom has earned for me
in this world. It is all useless.
20 So I
came to regret that I had worked so
hard.
21 You work for something
with all your wisdom, knowledge,
and skill, and then you have to leave
it all to someone who hasn't had to
work for it. It is useless, and it isn't
right!
22 You work and worry your
way through life, and what do you
have to show for it?
23 As long as you
-- --
live, everything you do brings nothing
but worry and heartache. Even
at night your mind can't rest. It is all
useless. note
24 The best thing a man can do is
eat and drink and enjoy what he has
earned. And yet, I realized that even
this comes from God. note
25 How else
could you have anything to eat or
enjoy yourself at all?
26 God gives
wisdom, knowledge, and happiness
to those who please him, but he
makes sinners work, earning and
saving, so that what they get can be
given to those who please him. It is
all useless. It is like chasing the
wind. note
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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