Verse 3

I made a search with my heart to give pleasure to my flesh with wine, still guiding my heart with wisdom, and to go after foolish things, so that I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life.

Referenced Verses

  • Prov 20:1 : 1 Wine makes men foolish, and strong drink makes men come to blows; and whoever comes into error through these is not wise.
  • Eccl 1:17 : 17 And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.
  • Eccl 6:12 : 12 Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?
  • Eccl 12:13 : 13 This is the last word. All has been said. Have fear of God and keep his laws; because this is right for every man.
  • Prov 31:4-5 : 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to take wine, or for rulers to say, Where is strong drink? 5 For fear that through drinking they may come to have no respect for the law, wrongly judging the cause of those who are in trouble.
  • Eph 5:18 : 18 And do not take overmuch wine by which one may be overcome, but be full of the Spirit;
  • Matt 6:24 : 24 No man is able to be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other, or he will keep to one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.
  • 2 Cor 6:15-17 : 15 And what agreement is there between Christ and the Evil One? or what part has one who has faith with one who has not? 16 And what agreement has the house of God with images? for we are a house of the living God; even as God has said, I will be living among them, and walking with them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people. 17 For which cause, Come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and let no unclean thing come near you; and I will take you for myself,
  • Eccl 7:18 : 18 It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.
  • Eccl 7:25 : 25 I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.
  • Eccl 2:24 : 24 There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.
  • Eccl 3:12-13 : 12 I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him. 13 And for every man to take food and drink, and have joy in all his work, is a reward from God.
  • Prov 23:29-35 : 29 Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark? 30 Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine. 31 Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down: 32 In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake. 33 Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things. 34 Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support. 35 They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
  • Gen 47:9 : 9 And Jacob said, The years of my wanderings have been a hundred and thirty; small in number and full of sorrow have been the years of my life, and less than the years of the wanderings of my fathers.
  • 1 Sam 25:36 : 36 And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal's heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came.
  • Job 14:14 : 14 If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.
  • Ps 90:9-9 : 9 For all our days have gone by in your wrath; our years come to an end like a breath. 10 The measure of our life is seventy years; and if through strength it may be eighty years, its pride is only trouble and sorrow, for it comes to an end and we are quickly gone. 11 Who has knowledge of the power of your wrath, or who takes note of the weight of your passion? 12 So give us knowledge of the number of our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.