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Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
New King James Version
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
New King James Version
The End of the Wise and the Fool
12 Then I turned myself to consider wisdom (A)and madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king?—
Only what he has already (B)done.
13 Then I saw that wisdom (C)excels folly
As light excels darkness.
14 (D)The wise man’s eyes are in his head,
But the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I myself perceived
That (E)the same event happens to them all.
15 So I said in my heart,
“As it happens to the fool,
It also happens to me,
And why was I then more wise?”
Then I said in my heart,
“This also is vanity.”
16 For there is (F)no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,
Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wise man die?
As the fool!
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because (G)I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his [a]heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 (H)For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? 23 For all his days are (I)sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 (J)Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, [b]more than I? 26 For God gives (K)wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that (L)he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:21 Lit. portion
- Ecclesiastes 2:25 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr. without Him
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
New International Version
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.(A)
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?(B)
13 I saw that wisdom(C) is better than folly,(D)
just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.(E)
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”(F)
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(G)
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(H)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(I)
Toil Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(J) 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.(K) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(L) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?(M) 23 All their days their work is grief and pain;(N) even at night their minds do not rest.(O) This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink(P) and find satisfaction in their own toil.(Q) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,(R) 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?(S) 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,(T) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth(U) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.(V) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.