Ecclesiastes 2:1-8

¹I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity. ²I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it? ³I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding [me] with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their life. ⁴I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; ⁵I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit; ⁶I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared; ⁷I bought men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem; ⁸I gathered me also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts.