Ecclesiastes 2:1

American Standard Version (1901)

I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Luke 12:19 : 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry.
  • Eccl 8:15 : 15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in his labor [all] the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.
  • Eccl 11:9 : 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
  • Isa 5:5 : 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
  • Isa 50:5 : 5 The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.
  • Isa 50:11 : 11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
  • Luke 16:19 : 19 Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day:
  • Luke 16:23 : 23 And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
  • Titus 3:3 : 3 For we also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
  • Jas 4:13 : 13 Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain:
  • Jas 5:1 : 1 Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
  • Jas 5:5 : 5 Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.
  • Rev 18:7-8 : 7 How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning. [ 8 Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her.
  • Gen 11:3-4 : 3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4 And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
  • Gen 11:7 : 7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
  • 2 Kgs 5:5 : 5 And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
  • Ps 10:6 : 6 He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved; To all generations I shall not be in adversity.
  • Ps 14:1 : 1 [For the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David]. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; There is none that doeth good.
  • Ps 27:8 : 8 [ When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek.
  • Ps 30:6-7 : 6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved. 7 Thou, Jehovah, of thy favor hadst made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide thy face; I was troubled.
  • Eccl 1:16-17 : 16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.
  • Eccl 2:15 : 15 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 said I in my heart, that this also is vanity.
  • Eccl 3:17-18 : 17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18 I said in my heart, [It is] because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are [but as] beasts.
  • Eccl 7:4 : 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 2:2-4
    3 verses
    87%

    2I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?

    3I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my 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 heaven all the days of their life.

    4I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;

  • Eccl 2:15
    83%

    15Then 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 said I in my heart, that this also is vanity.

  • Eccl 1:16-17
    2 verses
    81%

    16I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

    17And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 2:8-13
    6 verses
    81%

    8I gathered me also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

    9So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

    10And 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 labor; and this was my portion from all my labor.

    11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

    12And 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 done long ago.

    13Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

  • Eccl 1:1-3
    3 verses
    80%

    1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

    2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

    3What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun?

  • Eccl 8:14-16
    3 verses
    80%

    14There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

    15Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in his labor [all] the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.

    16When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes), [

  • Eccl 2:19-26
    8 verses
    79%

    19And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

    20Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor wherein I had labored under the sun.

    21For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

    22For what hath a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboreth under the sun?

    23For 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.

    24There is nothing better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

    25For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?

    26For 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.

  • Eccl 1:13-14
    2 verses
    79%

    13And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

    14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 3:12
    78%

    12I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live.

  • Eccl 7:25
    77%

    25I turned about, and my heart [was set] to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the reason [of things], and to know that wickedness is folly, and that foolishness is madness.

  • Eccl 3:22
    77%

    22Wherefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him [back] to see what shall be after him?

  • Eccl 2:17
    77%

    17So 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.

  • Eccl 12:8
    77%

    8Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

  • Eccl 11:8-10
    3 verses
    76%

    8Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

    9Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

    10Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

  • Eccl 4:7
    76%

    7Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.

  • Eccl 3:18
    76%

    18I said in my heart, [It is] because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are [but as] beasts.

  • Eccl 9:9
    75%

    9Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all thy days of vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun.

  • Eccl 6:9
    74%

    9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 6:11
    74%

    11Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

  • Prov 14:13
    73%

    13Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; And the end of mirth is heaviness.

  • Eccl 7:6
    73%

    6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.

  • Eccl 7:4
    73%

    4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

  • Eccl 4:4
    73%

    4Then I saw all labor and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 8:10
    73%

    10So I saw the wicked buried, and they came [to the grave] ; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity.

  • Eccl 4:16
    72%

    16There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 5:18
    72%

    18Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion.

  • Eccl 3:10
    72%

    10I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

  • Eccl 9:7
    72%

    7Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works.