New American Standard Bible 1995

Ecclesiastes 2:12-23

12So I turned to 1consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except 2what has already been done? 13And I saw that 3wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. 14The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the 4fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that 5one fate befalls them both. 15Then I said 6to myself, “7As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. 8Why then have I been extremely wise?” So 9I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” 16For there is 10no 11lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And 12how the wise man and the fool alike die! 17So I 13hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was 14grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

18Thus I hated 15all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must 16leave it to the man who will come after me. 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or 17a fool? Yet he will have 18control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is 19vanity. 20Therefore I 20completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and 21skill, then he 22gives his 23legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22For what does a man get in 24all his labor and in 25his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23Because all his days his task is painful and 26grievous; even at night his 27mind 28does not rest. This too is vanity.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 2

Notes

1. Ecclesiastes 2:12 Eccl 1:17 ↩
2. Ecclesiastes 2:12 Eccl 1:9, 10; 3:15 ↩
3. Ecclesiastes 2:13 Eccl 7:11, 12, 19; 9:18; 10:10 ↩
4. Ecclesiastes 2:14 1 John 2:11 ↩
5. Ecclesiastes 2:14 Ps 49:10; Eccl 3:19; 6:6; 7:2; 9:2, 3 ↩
6. Ecclesiastes 2:15 Lit in my heart ↩
7. Ecclesiastes 2:15 Eccl 2:16 ↩
8. Ecclesiastes 2:15 Eccl 6:8, 11 ↩
9. Ecclesiastes 2:15 Lit I spoke in my heart ↩
10. Ecclesiastes 2:16 Eccl 1:11; 9:5 ↩
11. Ecclesiastes 2:16 Lit forever ↩
12. Ecclesiastes 2:16 Eccl 2:14 ↩
13. Ecclesiastes 2:17 Eccl 4:2, 3 ↩
14. Ecclesiastes 2:17 Lit evil ↩
15. Ecclesiastes 2:18 Eccl 1:3; 2:11 ↩
16. Ecclesiastes 2:18 Ps 39:6; 49:10 ↩
17. Ecclesiastes 2:19 1 Kin 12:13 ↩
18. Ecclesiastes 2:19 Lit dominion ↩
19. Ecclesiastes 2:19 1 Tim 6:10 ↩
20. Ecclesiastes 2:20 Lit turned aside my heart to despair ↩
21. Ecclesiastes 2:21 Eccl 4:4 ↩
22. Ecclesiastes 2:21 Eccl 2:18 ↩
23. Ecclesiastes 2:21 Lit share ↩
24. Ecclesiastes 2:22 Eccl 1:3; 2:11 ↩
25. Ecclesiastes 2:22 Lit the striving of his heart ↩
26. Ecclesiastes 2:23 Job 5:7; 14:1; Eccl 1:18; 5:17 ↩
27. Ecclesiastes 2:23 Lit heart ↩
28. Ecclesiastes 2:23 Ps 127:2 ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2