Ecclesiastes 2:1

Qohelet's Investigation Of Self-Indulgence

¹ I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time.” But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness). ² I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

Enjoy Good

What is Good

No

Ecclesiastes 8:15

Then I commended pleasure and enjoyment, because a man [without God] has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for this will stand by him in his toil through the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

Luke 12:19

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things stored up, [enough] for many years; rest and relax, eat, drink and be merry (celebrate continually).”’

Genesis 11:3-4

They said one to another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them].” So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar.

Genesis 11:7

Come, let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) go down and there confuse and mix up their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

2 Kings 5:5

Then the king of Aram (Syria) said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel (Jehoram the son of Ahab).” So he left and took with him ten talents of silver and 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

Psalm 10:6

He says to himself, “I will not be moved;
For throughout all generations I will not be in adversity [for nothing bad will happen to me].”

Psalm 14:1

The [spiritually ignorant] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed repulsive and unspeakable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

Psalm 27:8

When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”

Psalm 30:6-7

As for me, in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be moved.”

Ecclesiastes 1:16-17

I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom and experience, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.”

Ecclesiastes 2:15

Then I said to myself, “As it happens to the fool, so death will also happen to me. What use is it then for me to be extremely wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This too is vanity (meaningless).”

Ecclesiastes 3:17-18

I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked,” for there is a time [appointed] for every matter and for every deed.

Ecclesiastes 7:4

The heart of the wise [learns when it] is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is [senseless] in the house of pleasure.

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Rejoice, young man, in your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant in the days of your young manhood. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the desires of your eyes, but know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.

Isaiah 5:5

“So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will take away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up;
I will break down its stone wall and it will be trampled down [by enemies].

Isaiah 50:5

The Lord God has opened My ear,
And I have not been rebellious
Nor have I turned back.

Isaiah 50:11

Listen carefully, all you who kindle your own fire [devising your own man-made plan of salvation],
Who surround yourselves with torches,
Walk by the light of your [self-made] fire
And among the torches that you have set ablaze.
But this you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in [a place of] torment.

Luke 16:19

“Now there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen, and celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day.

Luke 16:23

In Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise).

Titus 3:3

For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

James 4:13

Come now [and pay attention to this], you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and carry on our business and make a profit.”

James 5:1

Come [quickly] now, you rich [who lack true faith and hoard and misuse your resources], weep and howl over the miseries [the woes, the judgments] that are coming upon you.

James 5:5

On the earth you have lived luxuriously and abandoned yourselves to soft living and led a life of wanton pleasure [self-indulgence, self-gratification]; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

Revelation 18:7-8

To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled and gloated in her sensuality [living deliciously and luxuriously], to that same degree impose on her torment and anguish, and mourning and grief; for in her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as a queen [on a throne] and I am not a widow, and will never, ever see mourning or experience grief.’