Ecclesiastes 2:13-15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
13 And I saw that wisdom has as much profit over folly as light has over darkness.
14 Wise people have eyes in their heads,
but fools walk in darkness.
Yet I knew that the same lot befalls both.[a](A) 15 So I said in my heart, if the fool’s lot is to befall me also, why should I be wise? Where is the profit? And in my heart I decided that this too is vanity.
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- 2:14 Yet I knew…befalls both: the author quotes a traditional saying upholding the advantages of wisdom, but then qualifies it. Nothing, not even wisdom itself, can give someone absolute control over their destiny and therefore guarantee any advantage.
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