Ecclesiastes 2:1

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

I said to myself, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure to see what is good.' But behold, this too was meaningless.

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Referenced Verses

  • Luke 12:19 : 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry.”'
  • Eccl 8:15 : 15 So I praised enjoyment, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and be glad. This will accompany them in their toil through the days of life that God has given them under the sun.
  • Eccl 11:9 : 9 Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart be glad in the days of your prime. Follow the ways of your heart and the sights of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
  • Isa 5:5 : 5 Now let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
  • Isa 50:5 : 5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I did not turn away.
  • Isa 50:11 : 11 But look, all of you who light fires and equip yourselves with burning torches, walk in the light of your fire and in the torches you have set ablaze. This you will receive from my hand: you will lie down in torment.
  • Luke 16:19 : 19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
  • Luke 16:23 : 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
  • Titus 3:3 : 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
  • Jas 4:13 : 13 Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.'
  • Jas 5:1 : 1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you.
  • Jas 5:5 : 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
  • Rev 18:7-8 : 7 As much as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give her that much torment and grief, because in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and I will never see grief.' 8 Because of this, her plagues will come in a single day: death, mourning, and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for the mighty Lord God is the one who judges her.
  • Gen 11:3-4 : 3 They said to each other, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
  • Gen 11:7 : 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.
  • 2 Kgs 5:5 : 5 The king of Aram said, 'Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.' So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothes.
  • Ps 10:6 : 6 He says in his heart, 'I shall not be moved; from generation to generation I shall be without trouble.'
  • Ps 14:1 : 1 To the director. Of David. The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt and commit abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.
  • Ps 27:8 : 8 My heart says about You, 'Seek His face.' Lord, I will seek Your face.
  • Ps 30:6-7 : 6 For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. 7 As for me, I said in my prosperity, 'I will never be shaken.'
  • Eccl 1:16-17 : 16 I said to myself, 'Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled Jerusalem before me. I have experienced much wisdom and knowledge.' 17 Then I set my heart to understand wisdom, as well as madness and folly, but I learned that this too is a chasing after the wind.
  • Eccl 2:15 : 15 Then I said in my heart, 'What happens to the fool will also happen to me. So why have I been so very wise?' And I concluded in my heart, 'This too is meaningless.'
  • Eccl 3:17-18 : 17 I said in my heart, 'God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.' 18 I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man, that God is testing them to show them that they are like animals.
  • 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 pleasure.

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 madness,' and of joy, 'What does it accomplish?'

    3I explored with my heart how to cheer my body with wine, while my mind guided me with wisdom, and how to embrace folly until I could see what is good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

    4I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.

  • Eccl 2:15
    83%

    15Then I said in my heart, 'What happens to the fool will also happen to me. So why have I been so very wise?' And I concluded in my heart, 'This too is meaningless.'

  • Eccl 1:16-17
    2 verses
    81%

    16I said to myself, 'Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled Jerusalem before me. I have experienced much wisdom and knowledge.'

    17Then I set my heart to understand wisdom, as well as madness and folly, but I learned that this too is a chasing after the wind.

  • Eccl 2:8-13
    6 verses
    81%

    8I amassed silver and gold for myself, the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered male and female singers for myself, and the delights of men—many concubines.

    9I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom stayed with me.

    10Anything my eyes desired, I did not withhold from them; I did not keep my heart from any pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, for this was my reward for all my efforts.

    11Yet when I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, behold, everything was meaningless—a chasing after the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

    12So I turned my attention to consider wisdom, madness, and folly. For what can anyone do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

    13I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

  • Eccl 1:1-3
    3 verses
    80%

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

    2“Utterly meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

    3What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?

  • Eccl 8:14-16
    3 verses
    80%

    14There is a futility that takes place on the earth: righteous people receive what the wicked deserve, and wicked people receive what the righteous deserve. I said, 'This too is vanity.'

    15So I praised enjoyment, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and be glad. This will accompany them in their toil through the days of life that God has given them under the sun.

    16When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to observe the work that is done on earth, even though people do not see sleep with their eyes day or night,

  • Eccl 2:19-26
    8 verses
    79%

    19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will rule over all the fruit of my labor that I have worked for under the sun. This too is meaningless.

    20So I turned my heart to despair over all the hard work with which I had labored under the sun.

    21For there is a person who labors with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but then must leave everything to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.

    22What does a person gain from all their labor and from the striving of their heart under the sun?

    23All their days are full of sorrow, and their work is filled with grief; even at night their mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

    24There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in their work. This too, I realized, is from the hand of God.

    25For who can eat or who can enjoy life apart from Him?

    26To the person who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, He gives the task of gathering and storing wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

  • Eccl 1:13-14
    2 verses
    79%

    13I set my heart to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a burdensome task God has given to the human race to occupy themselves with!

    14I have seen all the deeds that are done under the sun; they are all meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

  • Eccl 3:12
    78%

    12I know that there is nothing better for people than to rejoice and to do good while they live.

  • Eccl 7:25
    77%

    25I turned my mind to understand, to investigate, and to search out wisdom and the meaning of things, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.

  • Eccl 3:22
    77%

    22So I saw that there is nothing better than for a person to rejoice in their work, for that is their lot. Who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

  • Eccl 2:17
    77%

    17So I hated life, because the work done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

  • Eccl 12:8
    77%

    8'Utter futility,' says the Teacher. 'Everything is futile!'

  • Eccl 11:8-10
    3 verses
    76%

    8For if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in all of them, but let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is meaningless.

    9Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart be glad in the days of your prime. Follow the ways of your heart and the sights of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

    10Remove vexation from your heart and put away distress from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are fleeting.

  • Eccl 4:7
    76%

    7Again, I turned and saw meaninglessness under the sun.

  • Eccl 3:18
    76%

    18I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man, that God is testing them to show them that they are like animals.

  • Eccl 9:9
    75%

    9Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your portion in life and in your hard work under the sun.

  • Eccl 6:9
    74%

    9Better is what the eyes see than the wandering of desire. This too is meaningless and a chasing after the wind.

  • Eccl 6:11
    74%

    11The more words, the more meaningless—and what advantage does that bring to anyone?

  • Prov 14:13
    73%

    13Even in laughter, the heart may ache, and joy may end in grief.

  • Eccl 7:6
    73%

    6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fools—this too is meaningless.

  • 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 pleasure.

  • Eccl 4:4
    73%

    4And I saw that all toil and all skill in work are driven by one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

  • Eccl 8:10
    73%

    10Then I saw the wicked buried, who used to go in and out of the holy place, but now they are forgotten in the city where they acted this way. This too is meaningless.

  • Eccl 4:16
    72%

    16There is no end to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

  • Eccl 5:18
    72%

    18Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and enables them to enjoy it, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.

  • Eccl 3:10
    72%

    10I have seen the burden that God has laid on the human race.

  • Eccl 9:7
    72%

    7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a glad heart, for God has already approved your works.