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Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
21st Century King James Version
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
21st Century King James Version
12 Then I turned myself to behold wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do that cometh after the king? Even that which hath been already done.
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness.
14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness. And I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
15 Then I said in my heart, “As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me, and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”
16 For there is no more remembrance of the wise for ever than of the fool, since all that now is shall be forgotten in the days to come. And how dieth the wise man? As the fool!
17 Therefore I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me. For all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
18 Yea, I hated all my labor which I had done under the sun, because I must leave it unto the man who shall be after me.
19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have shown myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I had done under the sun.
21 For a man may labor in wisdom and in knowledge and in equity; yet to a man who hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 For what hath man for all his labor and for the vexation of his heart wherewith he hath labored under the sun?
23 For all his days are sorrows and his travail grief. Yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto more than I?
26 For God giveth to a man what is good in His sight: wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He giveth travail to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
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Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
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,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”(F)
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(G)
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(H)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(I)
Toil Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(J) 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.(K) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(L) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?(M) 23 All their days their work is grief and pain;(N) even at night their minds do not rest.(O) This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink(P) and find satisfaction in their own toil.(Q) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,(R) 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?(S) 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,(T) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth(U) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.(V) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-15
21st Century King James Version
Ecclesiastes 3:9-15
21st Century King James Version
9 What profit hath he that worketh in that for which he laboreth?
10 I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time. Also He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life,
13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor: it is the gift of God.
14 I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. And God doeth it, that men should fear before Him.
15 That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
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Ecclesiastes 3:9-15
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 3:9-15
New International Version
9 What do workers gain from their toil?(A) 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.(B) 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.(C) He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom(D) what God has done from beginning to end.(E) 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink,(F) and find satisfaction(G) in all their toil—this is the gift of God.(H) 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.(I)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 Or also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that
- Ecclesiastes 3:15 Or God calls back the past
21st Century King James Version (KJ21)
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