³ I explored with my mind the pull of wine^(A) on my body—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to grasp folly,^(B) until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven^[a] during the few days of their lives.^(C)

¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the^[a] good life. ¹³ It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts.^(A)

²² I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities^(A) because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?^[a](B)

¹⁸ Here is what I have seen to be good:^(A) It is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.^(B)

¹² For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow?^(A) Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun?

¹⁵ So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself,^(A) for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

⁷ Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.^(A)

¹⁹ Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy;^(A) eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’^(B)

³² If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus^(A) as a mere man, what good did that do me?^(B) If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.^[a](C)