Ecclesiastes 2:3

Good News Translation

Driven on by my desire for wisdom, I decided to cheer myself up with wine and have a good time. I thought that this might be the best way people can spend their short lives on earth.

Cross References

Genesis 47:9

Jacob answered, “My life of wandering has lasted a hundred and thirty years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings.”

Job 14:14

If a man dies, can he come back to life? But I will wait for better times, wait till this time of trouble is ended.

Psalm 104:15

and produce wine to make us happy, olive oil to make us cheerful, and bread to give us strength.

Proverbs 20:1

Drinking too much makes you loud and foolish. It's stupid to get drunk.

Ecclesiastes 1:17

I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness, wisdom and madness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 10:19

Feasting makes you happy and wine cheers you up, but you can't have either without money.

Ecclesiastes 12:13

After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for.

Ecclesiastes 2:24

The best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God.

Ecclesiastes 5:18

Here is what I have found out: the best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for during the short life that God has given us; this is our fate.

Ecclesiastes 6:12

How can anyone know what is best for us in this short, useless life of ours—a life that passes like a shadow? How can we know what will happen in the world after we die?

Ecclesiastes 7:18

Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway.

Ecclesiastes 7:25

But I devoted myself to knowledge and study; I was determined to find wisdom and the answers to my questions, and to learn how wicked and foolish stupidity is.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

So I am convinced that we should enjoy ourselves, because the only pleasure we have in this life is eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves. We can at least do this as we labor during the life that God has given us in this world.

Matthew 6:24

“You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Ephesians 5:18

Do not get drunk with wine, which will only ruin you; instead, be filled with the Spirit.

Judges 9:13

But the vine answered, ‘In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my wine, that makes gods and human beings happy.’

1 Samuel 25:36

Abigail went back to Nabal, who was at home having a feast fit for a king. He was drunk and in a good mood, so she did not tell him anything until the next morning.