Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
Legacy Standard Bible
Wisdom Excels Folly
12 So I turned to (A)see wisdom, madness, and simpleminded folly. What will the man do who will come after the king except (B)what has already been done? 13 And I saw that there is an advantage in (C)wisdom over simpleminded folly as light has an advantage over darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the (D)fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that the (E)fate of one becomes the fate of all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, “(F)As is the fate of the fool, so will my fate be also. (G)Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said in my heart, “This too is vanity.” 16 For there is (H)no remembrance of the wise man along with the fool forever, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And (I)how the wise man dies with the fool!
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Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Wisdom and Joy Given to One Who Pleases God
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly, for what can the king’s successor do? Only what has already been done.(A) 13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their head,
but fools walk in darkness.
Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.(B) 15 Then I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity.(C) 16 For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools?
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.