Ecclesiastes 2:1

The Preacher tested pleasure and mirth, but found this too was vanity. Seeking meaning in enjoyment alone proves empty.

Cross-references · 24

• Luke 12:19Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
• Eccl 8:15So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
• Jas 5:5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.
• Ps 27:8My heart said, “Seek His face.” Your face, O LORD, I will seek.
• Jas 5:1Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
• Rev 18:7–8As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’
• Gen 11:3–4And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.
• Titus 3:3For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
• Eccl 1:16–17I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”
• Eccl 2:15So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.
• Isa 50:5The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.
• Jas 4:13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
• Ps 14:1For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
• Ps 30:6–7In prosperity I said, “I will never be shaken.”
• Eccl 3:17–18I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
• 2 Kgs 5:5“Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.
• Isa 50:11Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment.
• Gen 11:7Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
• Eccl 7:4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
• Eccl 11:9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad 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 to judgment.
• Luke 16:19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
• Ps 10:6He says to himself, “I will not be moved; from age to age I am free of distress.”
• Isa 5:5Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.
• Luke 16:23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.