Ecclesiastes 2:1

KJV1611 – Modern English

I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure." And behold, this also is vanity.

Additional Resources

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • Luke 12:19 : 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your rest, eat, drink, and be merry.
  • Eccl 8:15 : 15 So I commended joy, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.
  • Eccl 11:9 : 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes — but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
  • Isa 5:5 : 5 And now, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down:
  • Isa 50:5 : 5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away back.
  • Isa 50:11 : 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who encompass yourselves with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that you have kindled. This you shall have of my hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.
  • Luke 16:19 : 19 There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day:
  • Luke 16:23 : 23 And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
  • Titus 3:3 : 3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
  • Jas 4:13 : 13 Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit;
  • Jas 5:1 : 1 Come now, you rich men, weep and wail for your miseries that shall come upon you.
  • Jas 5:5 : 5 You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been indulgent; you have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
  • Rev 18:7-8 : 7 As much as she has glorified herself, and lived luxuriously, give her that much torment and sorrow: for she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 Therefore her plagues shall come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
  • Gen 11:3-4 : 3 And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and tar they had for mortar. 4 And they said, Come, let us build a city and a tower whose top may reach to heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.
  • Gen 11:7 : 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse 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 to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand gold pieces, and ten changes of clothing.
  • Ps 10:6 : 6 He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved; for I shall never be in adversity.
  • Ps 14:1 : 1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have done abominable deeds, there is none who does good.
  • Ps 27:8 : 8 When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'Your face, LORD, I will seek.'
  • Ps 30:6-7 : 6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 LORD, by your favor you have made my mountain stand strong: you hid your face, and I was troubled.
  • Eccl 1:16-17 : 16 I communed with my own heart, saying, Look, I have attained great stature, and gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem: yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 17 And I set my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is a striving after wind.
  • Eccl 2:15 : 15 So I said in my heart, "As it happens to the fool, so it happens even to me. And why was I then more wise?" Then I said in my heart, "This also is vanity."
  • Eccl 3:17-18 : 17 I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time for every purpose and for every work. 18 I said in my heart concerning the condition of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are like 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 laughter.

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 mirth, "What does it accomplish?"

    3I searched in my heart to give myself to wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what is good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

    4I made great works; I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself.

  • Eccl 2:15
    83%

    15So I said in my heart, "As it happens to the fool, so it happens even to me. And why was I then more wise?" Then I said in my heart, "This also is vanity."

  • Eccl 1:16-17
    2 verses
    81%

    16I communed with my own heart, saying, Look, I have attained great stature, and gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem: yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

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

  • Eccl 2:8-13
    6 verses
    81%

    8I gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and various kinds of musical instruments.

    9So I became great and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me.

    10And whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor.

    11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor I had toiled to do; and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

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

    13Then I saw that wisdom excels folly just as light excels darkness.

  • Eccl 1:1-3
    3 verses
    80%

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

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

    3What profit does a man have from all his labor which he does under the sun?

  • Eccl 8:14-16
    3 verses
    80%

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

    15So I commended joy, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

    16When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the work that is done upon the earth (for there are those who neither day nor night see sleep with their eyes),

  • Eccl 2:19-26
    8 verses
    79%

    19And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I have labored and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

    20Therefore I turned my heart to despair over all the labor which I had done under the sun.

    21For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill. Yet he must leave his inheritance to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

    22For what has man from all his labor, and of the striving of his heart with which he has labored under the sun?

    23For all his days are sorrowful, and his work is burdensome; even at night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

    24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy the good of his labor. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God.

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

    26For God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to the man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and collecting, only to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 1:13-14
    2 verses
    79%

    13And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this difficult task God has given to the children of man to be engaged with.

    14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, 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 in their lives.

  • Eccl 7:25
    77%

    25I applied my heart to know, to search, and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even foolishness and madness.

  • Eccl 3:22
    77%

    22Therefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who can bring him to see what shall be after him?

  • Eccl 2:17
    77%

    17Therefore I hated life, because the work that was done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 12:8
    77%

    8Vanity of vanities, says the preacher; all is vanity.

  • Eccl 11:8-10
    3 verses
    76%

    8But if a man lives many years, and rejoices in them all, let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is vanity.

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

    10Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity.

  • Eccl 4:7
    76%

    7Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

  • Eccl 3:18
    76%

    18I said in my heart concerning the condition of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are like beasts.

  • Eccl 9:9
    75%

    9Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in this life and in your labor which you take under the sun.

  • Eccl 6:9
    74%

    9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire: this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 6:11
    74%

    11Since there are many things that increase vanity, what advantage does man have?

  • Prov 14:13
    73%

    13Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that 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 laughter.

  • Eccl 4:4
    73%

    4Again, I considered all the toil and every right work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 8:10
    73%

    10Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had done so. This also is vanity.

  • Eccl 4:16
    72%

    16There is no end of all the people, even of all who have been before them; they also that come after will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 5:18
    72%

    18Behold, what I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him; for it is his portion.

  • Eccl 3:10
    72%

    10I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men to be occupied with.

  • Eccl 9:7
    72%

    7Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God now accepts your works.