ESV
KJV
3. I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
ASV
3. I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their life.
ERVEN
3. So I decided to fill my body with wine while I filled my mind with wisdom. I tried this foolishness because I wanted to find a way to be happy. I wanted to see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.
NLT
3. After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.
WEB
3. I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.
NET
3. I thought deeply about the effects of indulging myself with wine (all the while my mind was guiding me with wisdom) and the effects of behaving foolishly, so that I might discover what is profitable for people to do on earth during the few days of their lives.
NLV
3. I tried to find in my mind how to make my body happy with wine, yet at the same time having my mind lead me with wisdom. I tried to find how to take hold of what is foolish, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few years of their lives.
HCSB
3. I explored with my mind how to let my body enjoy life with wine and how to grasp folly-- my mind still guiding me with wisdom-- until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
YLT
3. I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where [is] this -- the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.
LITV
3. I sought in my heart how to drag my flesh with wine, and leading my heart in wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see where the good for the sons of men is, that which they should do under the heavens the number of days of their life.
RV
3. I searched in mine heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, mine heart yet guiding {cf15i me} with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
NCV
3. I decided to cheer myself up with wine while my mind was still thinking wisely. I wanted to find a way to enjoy myself and see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.
MKJV
3. I sought in my heart to drag my flesh with wine, yet leading my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see where the good for the sons of men might be, what they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.
AKJV
3. I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
LXXEN
3. And I examined whether my heart would excite my flesh as with wine, (though my heart guided me in wisdom,) and I desired to lay hold of mirth, until I should see of what kind is the good to the sons of men, which they should do under the sun all the days of their life.
KJV
3. I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
AMP
3. I searched in my mind how to cheer my body with wine--yet at the same time having my mind hold its course and guide me with [human] wisdom--and how to lay hold of folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
KJVP
3. I sought H8446 in mine heart H3820 to give H4900 myself H1320 CMS-1MS unto wine H3196 , yet acquainting H5090 mine heart H3820 with wisdom H2451 ; and to lay hold H270 on folly H5531 , till H5704 PREP I might see H7200 VQY1MS what H335 IPRO [ was ] that H2088 DPRO good H2896 AMS for the sons H1121 L-CMP of men H120 D-NMS , which H834 RPRO they should do H6213 under H8478 NMS the heaven H8064 D-NMD all H4557 CMS the days H3117 CMP of their life H2416 .
YLT
3. I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where [is] this -- the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.
ASV
3. I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their life.
WEB
3. I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.
NASB
3. I thought of beguiling my senses with wine, though my mind was concerned with wisdom, and of taking up folly, until I should understand what is best for men to do under the heavens during the limited days of their life.
ESV
3. I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine- my heart still guiding me with wisdom- and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
RV
3. I searched in mine heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, mine heart yet guiding {cf15i me} with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
RSV
3. I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine -- my mind still guiding me with wisdom -- and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
NKJV
3. I searched in my heart [how] to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
MKJV
3. I sought in my heart to drag my flesh with wine, yet leading my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see where the good for the sons of men might be, what they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.
AKJV
3. I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
NRSV
3. I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine-- my mind still guiding me with wisdom-- and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
NIV
3. I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worth while for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
NIRV
3. I tried cheering myself up by drinking wine. I even tried living in a foolish way. But wisdom was still guiding my mind. I wanted to see what was really important for men to do on earth during the few days of their lives.
NLT
3. After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.
MSG
3. With the help of a bottle of wine and all the wisdom I could muster, I tried my level best to penetrate the absurdity of life. I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do during the years we spend on this earth.
GNB
3. 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.
NET
3. I thought deeply about the effects of indulging myself with wine (all the while my mind was guiding me with wisdom) and the effects of behaving foolishly, so that I might discover what is profitable for people to do on earth during the few days of their lives.
ERVEN
3. So I decided to fill my body with wine while I filled my mind with wisdom. I tried this foolishness because I wanted to find a way to be happy. I wanted to see what was good for people to do during their few days of life.