3 Guided by wisdom, I probed with my mind how to beguile my senses with wine and take up folly, until I should understand what is good for human beings to do under the heavens during the limited days of their lives.
4 I undertook great works; I built myself houses and planted vineyards;
5 I made gardens and parks, and in them set out fruit trees of all sorts.
6 And I constructed for myself reservoirs to water a flourishing woodland.
7 I acquired male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned vast herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem.
8 I amassed for myself silver and gold, and the treasures of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and delights of men, many women.
9 I accumulated much more than all others before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom, too, stayed with me.