Scriptures

New Living Translation (NLT)

Ecclesiastes 1
¹⁵ What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.
¹⁶ I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”
¹⁷ So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
¹⁸ The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.
Ecclesiastes 2
¹ I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.
² So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”
³ After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.
⁴ I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.
⁵ I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.
⁶ I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.
⁷ I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.