Ecclesiastes
King James Version · 12 chapters · 222 verses · Old Testament
A man who tried everything
The Preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem, sets out to test whether anything under the sun is finally worth doing. He tries pleasure, wine, building projects, gardens, silver and gold, singers, wisdom itself. He reports back that all of it is vanity — vapour, breath, gone while you are holding it. The book is bleak and refuses to be cheered up, which is exactly why people who are tired of being told everything is fine keep returning to it. It ends by pulling the whole matter into two lines: fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.