Ecclesiastes 2:12-26

Christian Standard Bible

The Relative Value of Wisdom

¹² Then I turned to consider wisdom,^(A) madness, and folly, for what will the king’s successor^[a] be like? He^[b] will do what has already been done.^{(B) 13} And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.^(C)

Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.^{(E) 15} So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” ^(F) And I said to myself that this is also futile. ¹⁶ For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise,^(G) since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies just like the fool? ¹⁷ Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

The Emptiness of Work

¹⁸ I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun^(H) because I must leave it to the one who comes after me.^{(I) 19} And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?^(J) Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. ²⁰ So I began to give myself over^[c] to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun. ²¹ When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill,^(K) and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. ²² For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts^(L) that he labors at under the sun? ²³ For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful;^(M) even at night, his mind does not rest.^(N) This too is futile.

²⁴ There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy^[d][e] his work.^(O) I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,^{(P) 25} because who can eat and who can enjoy life^[f] apart from him?^{[g] 26} For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy;^(Q) but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight.^(R) This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.^(S)