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!

Read full chapter

10 For he sees wise men die;
Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,
And leave their wealth to others.

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends