Ecclesiastes 2:12-23

New American Standard Bible

Wisdom Surpasses Foolishness

¹² So I turned to ^(A)consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness; for what will the man do who will come after the king, except ^(B)what has already been done? ¹³ Then I saw that ^(C)wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness. ¹⁴ The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the ^(D)fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that ^(E)one and the same fate happens to ^[a]both of them. ¹⁵ Then I said ^[b]to myself, “^(F)As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. ^(G)Why then have I been extremely wise?” So ^[c]I said to myself, “This too is futility.” ¹⁶ For there is ^(H)no ^[d]lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will ^[e]soon be forgotten. And ^(I)how the wise and the fool alike die! ¹⁷ So I ^(J)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ^[f]unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

The Futility of Labor

¹⁸ So I hated ^(K)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must ^(L)leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be wise or ^(M)a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is ^(N)futility. ²⁰ Therefore I ^[g]completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. ²¹ When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and ^(O)skill, and then ^(P)gives his ^[h]legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil. ²² For what does a person get in ^(Q)all his labor and in ^[i]his striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ Because all his days his activity is painful and ^(R)irritating; even at night his ^[j]mind ^(S)does not rest. This too is futility.