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Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
Modern English Version
Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
Modern English Version
The Fate of the Wise and the Fool
12 So I turned to consider wisdom,
the folly of ideas, and foolish behavior;
for what else can a man do who comes after the king?
Or what more than those have already done?
13 Then I saw that there is more benefit in wisdom than in foolishness,
more benefit in light than in darkness.
14 A wise man has eyes in his head so he sees where he walks,
but the fool continues in darkness.
Yet I perceived
that the same fate overtakes them all.
15 Then I said in my heart,
“What happens to the fool will happen to me also.
So to what advantage is my wisdom?”
Then I said to myself,
“This also is vanity.”
16 For there is no lasting memory for the wise or the fool,
by which in the coming days everyone will be forgotten.
How the wise dies just like the fool!
Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
New International Version
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.(A)
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?(B)
13 I saw that wisdom(C) is better than folly,(D)
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.(E)
15 Then I said to myself,
Modern English Version (MEV)
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.