Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26

New American Standard Bible 1995

The Futility of Wisdom

¹² I, the ^(A)Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I ^(B)set my ^[a]mind to seek and ^(C)explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is ^[b]a grievous ^(D)task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. ¹⁴ I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is ^[c](E)vanity and striving after wind. ¹⁵ What is ^(F)crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶ I ^[d]said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased ^(G)wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my ^[e]mind has observed ^[f]a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ And I ^(H)set my ^[g]mind to know wisdom and to ^(I)know madness and folly; I realized that this also is ^(J)striving after wind. ¹⁸ Because ^(K)in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions

2 I said ^[h]to myself, “Come now, I will test you with ^(L)pleasure. So ^[i]enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. ^2 (M)I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” ³ I explored with my ^[j]mind how to ^(N)stimulate my body with wine while my ^[k]mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of ^(O)folly, until I could see ^(P)what good there is for the sons of men ^[l]to do under heaven the few ^[m]years of their lives. ⁴ I enlarged my works: I ^(Q)built houses for myself, I planted ^(R)vineyards for myself; ⁵ I made ^(S)gardens and ^(T)parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; ⁶ I made ^(U)ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves and I had ^[n](V)homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and ^(W)herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. ⁸ Also, I collected for myself silver and ^(X)gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself ^(Y)male and female singers and the pleasures of men—many concubines.

⁹ Then I became ^(Z)great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. ^10 (AA)All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my ^(AB)reward for all my labor. ¹¹ Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had ^[o]exerted, and behold all was ^[p](AC)vanity and striving after wind and there was ^(AD)no profit under the sun.

Wisdom Excels Folly

¹² So I turned to ^(AE)consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except ^(AF)what has already been done? ¹³ And I saw that ^(AG)wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. ¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the ^(AH)fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that ^(AI)one fate befalls them both. ¹⁵ Then I said ^[q]to myself, “^(AJ)As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. ^(AK)Why then have I been extremely wise?” So ^[r]I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” ¹⁶ For there is ^(AL)no ^[s]lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And ^(AM)how the wise man and the fool alike die! ¹⁷ So I ^(AN)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was ^[t]grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

The Futility of Labor

¹⁸ Thus I hated ^(AO)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must ^(AP)leave it to the man who will come after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or ^(AQ)a fool? Yet he will have ^[u]control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is ^(AR)vanity. ²⁰ Therefore I ^[v]completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. ²¹ When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and ^(AS)skill, then he ^(AT)gives his ^[w]legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. ²² For what does a man get in ^(AU)all his labor and in ^[x]his striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ Because all his days his task is painful and ^(AV)grievous; even at night his ^[y]mind ^(AW)does not rest. This too is vanity.

²⁴ There is ^(AX)nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and ^[z]tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is ^(AY)from the hand of God. ²⁵ For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without ^[aa]Him? ²⁶ For to a person who is good in His sight ^(AZ)He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may ^(BA)give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is ^(BB)vanity and striving after wind.