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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Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
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)
14 The wise person has eyes in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness.(D)
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?
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