Ecclesiastes 2:9-14
New International Version
9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem(A) before me.(B) In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;(C)
nothing was gained under the sun.(D)
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.(E)
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?(F)
13 I saw that wisdom(G) is better than folly,(H)
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.(I)
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