Ecclesiastes 2:15-19 New International Version
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”(A)
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(B)
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(C)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(D)
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.(E) 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.(F) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(G) 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.
Ecclesiastes 4:4 New International Version
4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(A)
Cross references
Ecclesiastes 5:10 New International Version
10 Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 New International Version
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,(A)
nor does food come to the wise(B)
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance(C) happen to them all.(D)
12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
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