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Ecclesiastes chapter 2 I said to
myself, Come now, I will test 

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you with pleasure and 
gratification, so enjoy yourself

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and have a good time. 
But behold, this too was vanity 

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or futility, meaninglessness. 
I said of laughter. 

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It is madness and of pleasure. 
What does it accomplish? 

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I explored with my mind how to 
gratify myself with wine, while 

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at the same time having my mind 
remains steady and guide me 

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wisely, and how to take control 
of foolishness until I could see

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what was good for the sons of 
men to do under heaven. 

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All the days of their lives I 
made great works. 

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I built houses for myself, I 
planted vineyards for myself. 

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I made gardens and orchards for 
myself, and I planted in them 

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all kinds of fruit trees. 
I made pools of water for myself

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from which to water the forest 
and make the trees bud. 

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I bought male and female slaves,
and had slaves born in my house.

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I also possessed herds and 
flocks larger than any who 

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preceded me in Jerusalem. 
Also I collected for myself 

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silver and gold, and the 
treasure of kings and provinces.

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I provided for myself male 
singers and female singers, and 

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the delights and pleasures of 
men many concubines. 

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So I became great and excelled 
more than all who preceded me in

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Jerusalem. 
My wisdom also remained with me.

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Whatever my eyes looked at with 
desire, I did not refuse them. 

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I did not withhold from my heart
any pleasure, for my heart was 

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pleased because of all my labor,
and this was my reward for all 

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my labor. 
Then I considered all which my 

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hands had done and labored to 
do, and behold, all was vanity 

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and chasing after the wind, and 
there was no profit or nothing 

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of lasting value under the sun. 
So I turned to consider secular 

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wisdom, madness, and folly. 
For what will the man do who 

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succeeds the king? 
Nothing except what has already 

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been done. 
Then I saw that even secular 

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wisdom that brings sorrow is 
better than the pleasures of 

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folly and self indulgence. 
As light excels darkness, the 

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wise man's eyes are in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness. 

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And yet I know that in the end 
one fate happens to them both. 

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Then I said to myself, As it 
happens to the fool, so death 

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will also happen to me. 
What use is it then for me to be

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extremely wise? 
Then I said in my heart, this 

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too is vanity or meaningless, 
for there is no more lasting 

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remembrance of the wise man than
of the fool, since in the days 

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to come all will be long 
forgotten. 

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And how does the wise man die, 
even as the fool? 

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So I hated life, for the work 
which had been done under the 

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sun caused me only great sorrow,
because all is futility and 

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chasing after the wind. 
So I hated all the fruits or 

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gain of my labor for which I had
labored under the sun. 

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Because I must leave it to the 
man who will succeed me, and who

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knows whether he will be a wise 
man or a fool, yet he will have 

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control over all the fruit of my
labor for which I have labored 

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by acting wisely under the sun. 
This too is vanity or futility, 

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self conceit. 
So I turned aside and let my 

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heart despair over all the fruit
of my labor for which I had 

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labored under the sun. 
For there is a man who has 

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labored with wisdom and 
knowledge and skill, yet gives 

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his legacy to one who has not 
labored for it. 

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This too, is vanity and a great 
evil. 

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For what does a man get from all
his labor and from the striving 

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and sorrow of his heart, with 
which he laborers under the sun 

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for all his days? 
His work is painful and 

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sorrowful. 
Even at night his mind does not 

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rest. 
This, too, is vanity or 

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worthless. 
There is nothing better for a 

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man than to eat and drink, and 
assure himself that there is 

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good in his labor. 
Even this, I have seen, is from 

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the hand of God. 
For who can eat, and who can 

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have enjoyment without him? 
For to the person who pleases 

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him God gives wisdom, knowledge,
and joy. 

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But to the Sinner he gives the 
work of gathering and 

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collecting, so that he may give 
to one who pleases God. 

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This too is vanity and chasing 
after the wind. 

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Thank you for tuning into the 
Audio Bible Podcast today. 

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This has been Ecclesiastes 
chapter 2 from the Word of God.