Ecclesiastes 2:4

Bible in Basic English (1941)

I undertook great works, building myself houses and planting vine-gardens.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 1 Kgs 7:1-9 : 1 Solomon was thirteen years building a house for himself till it was complete. 2 And he made the house of the Woods of Lebanon, which was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high, resting on four lines of cedar-wood pillars with cedar-wood supports on the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar over the forty-five supports which were on the pillars, fifteen in a line. 4 There were three lines of window-frames, window facing window in every line. 5 And all the doors and windows had square frames, with the windows facing one another in three lines. 6 And he made a covered room of pillars, fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, and ... with steps before it. 7 Then he made a covered room for his high seat when he gave decisions; this was the covered room of judging; it was covered with cedar-wood from floor to roof. 8 And the house for his living-place, the other open square in the covered room, was made in the same way. And then he made a house like it for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had taken as his wife. 9 All these buildings were made, inside and out, from base to crowning stone, and outside to the great walled square, of highly priced stone, cut to different sizes with cutting-instruments. 10 And the base was of great masses of highly priced stone, some ten cubits and some eight cubits square. 11 Overhead were highly priced stones cut to measure, and cedar-wood. 12 The great outer square all round was walled with three lines of squared stones and a line of cedar-wood boards, round about the open square inside the house of the Lord and the covered room of the king's house.
  • 1 Kgs 9:1 : 1 Now when Solomon came to the end of building the house of the Lord and the king's house, and all Solomon's desires, which he had in mind were effected;
  • 1 Kgs 10:19-20 : 19 There were six steps going up to it, and the top of it was round at the back, there were arms on the two sides of the seat, and two lions by the side of the arms; 20 And twelve lions were placed on the one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom.
  • 1 Kgs 15:19 : 19 Let there be an agreement between me and you as there was between my father and your father: see, I have sent you an offering of silver and gold; go and put an end to your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he may give up attacking me.
  • 1 Chr 27:27 : 27 Shimei the Ramathite was responsible for the vine-gardens; Zabdi the Shiphmite was responsible for the produce of the vine-gardens and for all the stores of wine;
  • 2 Chr 8:1-6 : 1 Now at the end of twenty years, in which time Solomon had put up the house of the Lord and a house for himself, 2 He took in hand the building up of the towns which Huram had given him, causing the children of Israel to make living-places for themselves there. 3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and overcame it. 4 And he put up the buildings of Tadmor in the waste land, and of all the store-towns in Hamath; 5 And of Beth-horon the higher and the lower, walled towns with walls and doorways and locks; 6 And of Baalath, and all the store-towns which Solomon had, and the towns where he kept his war-carriages and his horse men, and everything which it was his pleasure to put up in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land under his rule.
  • 2 Chr 8:11 : 11 Then Solomon made Pharaoh's daughter come up from the town of David to the house which he had made for her; for he said, I will not have my wife living in the house of David, king of Israel, because those places where the ark of the Lord has come are holy.
  • 2 Chr 26:10 : 10 And he put up towers in the waste land and made places for storing water, for he had much cattle, in the low hills and in the table land; and he had farmers and vine-keepers in the mountains and in the fertile land, for he was a lover of farming.
  • Ps 49:11 : 11 The place of the dead is their house for ever, and their resting-place through all generations; those who come after them give their names to their lands.
  • Song 1:14 : 14 My love is to me as a branch of the cypress-tree in the vine-gardens of En-gedi.
  • Song 7:12 : 12 Let us go out early to the vine-gardens; let us see if the vine is in bud, if it has put out its young fruit, and the pomegranate is in flower. There I will give you my love.
  • Song 8:11-12 : 11 Solomon had a vine-garden at Baal-hamon; he let out the vine-garden to keepers; every one had to give a thousand bits of silver for its fruit. 12 My vine-garden, which is mine, is before me: you, O Solomon, will have the thousand, and those who keep the fruit of them two hundred.
  • Isa 5:1 : 1 Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill:
  • Dan 4:30 : 30 The king made answer and said, Is this not great Babylon, which I have made for the living-place of kings, by the strength of my power and for the glory of my honour?
  • Gen 11:4 : 4 And they said, Come, let us make a town, and a tower whose top will go up as high as heaven; and let us make a great name for ourselves, so that we may not be wanderers over the face of the earth.
  • Deut 8:12-14 : 12 And when you have taken food and are full, and have made fair houses for yourselves and are living in them; 13 And when your herds and your flocks are increased, and your stores of silver and gold, and you have wealth of every sort; 14 Take care that your hearts are not lifted up in pride, giving no thought to the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house;
  • 2 Sam 18:18 : 18 Now Absalom, before his death, had put up for himself a pillar in the king's valley, naming it after himself; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory: and to this day it is named Absalom's pillar.

Similar Verses (AI)

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

  • Eccl 2:5-12
    8 verses
    89%

    5 I made myself gardens and fruit gardens, planting in them fruit-trees of all sorts.

    6 I made pools to give water for the woods with their young trees.

    7 I got men-servants and women-servants, and they gave birth to sons and daughters in my house. I had great wealth of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

    8 I got together silver and gold and the wealth of kings and of countries. I got makers of song, male and female; and the delights of the sons of men--girls of all sorts to be my brides.

    9 And I became great; increasing more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom was still with me.

    10 And nothing which was desired by my eyes did I keep from them; I did not keep any joy from my heart, because my heart took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward.

    11 Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

    12 And I went again in search of wisdom and of foolish ways. What may the man do who comes after the king? The thing which he has done before.

  • Eccl 2:1-3
    3 verses
    81%

    1 I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.

    2 Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy--What use is it?

    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.

  • Eccl 1:16-17
    2 verses
    78%

    16 I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.

    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 2:17-22
    6 verses
    76%

    17 So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.

    18 Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.

    19 And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.

    20 So my mind was turned to grief for all the trouble I had taken and all my wisdom under the sun.

    21 Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.

    22 What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?

  • Eccl 2:24-26
    3 verses
    76%

    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.

    25 Who may take food or have pleasure without him?

    26 To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

  • Jer 22:14
    76%

    14 Who says, I will make a wide house for myself, and rooms of great size, and has windows cut out, and has it roofed with cedar and painted with bright red.

  • Eccl 1:12-14
    3 verses
    76%

    12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

    13 And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.

    14 I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.

  • Eccl 2:15
    74%

    15 Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.

  • 2 Chr 2:9
    74%

    9 To get trees for me in great numbers, for the house which I am building is to be great and a wonder.

  • Eccl 3:22
    73%

    22 So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

  • Eccl 4:7-8
    2 verses
    73%

    7 Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.

    8 It is one who is by himself, without a second, and without son or brother; but there is no end to all his work, and he has never enough of wealth. For whom, then, am I working and keeping myself from pleasure? This again is to no purpose, and a bitter work.

  • Eccl 4:4
    73%

    4 And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

  • Job 31:25
    72%

    25 If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store;

  • Isa 5:1-2
    2 verses
    72%

    1 Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill:

    2 And after working the earth of it with a spade, he took away its stones, and put in it a very special vine; and he put up a watchtower in the middle of it, hollowing out in the rock a place for the grape-crushing; and he was hoping that it would give the best grapes, but it gave common grapes.

  • Eccl 7:25
    72%

    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 1:2-3
    2 verses
    72%

    2 All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.

    3 What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?

  • Job 3:14
    71%

    14 With kings and the wise ones of the earth, who put up great houses for themselves;

  • Eccl 8:15-17
    3 verses
    71%

    15 So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

    16 When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),

    17 Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.

  • Song 8:12
    71%

    12 My vine-garden, which is mine, is before me: you, O Solomon, will have the thousand, and those who keep the fruit of them two hundred.

  • Luke 12:18-19
    2 verses
    71%

    18 And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods.

    19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy.

  • Eccl 9:13
    71%

    13 This again I have seen under the sun as wisdom and it seemed great to me.

  • Jer 29:5
    70%

    5 Go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them;

  • Eccl 3:12
    70%

    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.

  • Eccl 12:8
    70%

    8 All things are to no purpose, says the Preacher, all is to no purpose.

  • Eccl 8:9
    69%

    9 All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.