New American Standard Bible 1995

Ecclesiastes 2:18-23

18Thus I hated 1all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must 2leave it to the man who will come after me. 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or 3a fool? Yet he will have 4control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is 5vanity. 20Therefore I 6completely 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 7skill, then he 8gives his 9legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22For what does a man get in 10all his labor and in 11his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23Because all his days his task is painful and 12grievous; even at night his 13mind 14does not rest. This too is vanity.

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Notes

1. Ecclesiastes 2:18 Eccl 1:3; 2:11 ↩
2. Ecclesiastes 2:18 Ps 39:6; 49:10 ↩
3. Ecclesiastes 2:19 1 Kin 12:13 ↩
4. Ecclesiastes 2:19 Lit dominion ↩
5. Ecclesiastes 2:19 1 Tim 6:10 ↩
6. Ecclesiastes 2:20 Lit turned aside my heart to despair ↩
7. Ecclesiastes 2:21 Eccl 4:4 ↩
8. Ecclesiastes 2:21 Eccl 2:18 ↩
9. Ecclesiastes 2:21 Lit share ↩
10. Ecclesiastes 2:22 Eccl 1:3; 2:11 ↩
11. Ecclesiastes 2:22 Lit the striving of his heart ↩
12. Ecclesiastes 2:23 Job 5:7; 14:1; Eccl 1:18; 5:17 ↩
13. Ecclesiastes 2:23 Lit heart ↩
14. Ecclesiastes 2:23 Ps 127:2 ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2