Font Size
Eclesiastés 2
Nueva Versión Internacional
Eclesiastés 2
Nueva Versión Internacional
2 Me dije entonces: «Vamos, pues, haré la prueba con los placeres y me daré la gran vida». ¡Pero aun esto resultó ser vanidad! 2 A la risa la considero una locura; en cuanto a los placeres, ¿para qué sirven?
3 Quise luego hacer la prueba de entregarme al vino —si bien mi mente estaba bajo el control de la sabiduría—, y de aferrarme a la necedad, hasta ver qué de bueno le encuentra el hombre a lo que hace bajo el cielo durante los contados días de su vida.
4 Realicé grandes obras: me construí casas, me planté viñedos, 5 cultivé mis propios huertos y jardines en donde planté toda clase de árboles frutales. 6 También me construí aljibes para irrigar los muchos árboles que allí crecían. 7 Compré esclavos y esclavas; tuve criados, vacas y ovejas, tuve mucho más que todos los que me precedieron en Jerusalén. 8 Amontoné plata, oro y tesoros que fueron de reyes y provincias. Tuve cantores y cantoras; disfruté de los deleites de los hombres: ¡formé mi propio harén![a]
9 Me engrandecí en gran manera, más que todos los que me precedieron en Jerusalén; además, la sabiduría permanecía conmigo.
10 No negué a mis ojos ningún deseo
ni privé a mi corazón de placer alguno.
Mi corazón disfrutó de todos mis trabajos.
¡Solo eso saqué de tanto afanarme!
11 Luego observé todas mis obras
y el trabajo que me había costado realizarlas.
Vi que todo era vanidad, un correr tras el viento,
y que no había provecho bajo el sol.
Todos paran en lo mismo
12 Consideré entonces la sabiduría,
la necedad y la insensatez.
¿Qué más puede hacer el sucesor del rey,
aparte de lo ya hecho?
13 Observé que es mejor la sabiduría que la insensatez,
así como la luz es mejor que las tinieblas.
14 El sabio tiene los ojos bien puestos,
pero el necio anda a oscuras.
Pero me di cuenta de que
un mismo final espera a todos.
15 Me dije entonces:
«Si al fin voy a acabar igual que el necio,
¿de qué me sirve ser tan sabio?».
Y me dije:
«También esto es vanidad».
16 Nadie se acuerda jamás del sabio ni del necio;
con el paso del tiempo todo cae en el olvido;
lo mismo mueren los sabios que los necios.
17 Aborrecí entonces la vida, pues todo cuanto se hace bajo el sol me resultaba repugnante. Realmente, todo es vanidad; ¡es correr tras el viento!
18 Aborrecí también todo el trabajo que hice bajo el sol, pues el fruto de tanto afán tendría que dejárselo a mi sucesor. 19 ¿Y quién sabe si este sería sabio o necio? Sin embargo, se adueñaría de lo que con tanto esmero y sabiduría logré hacer bajo el sol. ¡Y también esto es vanidad!
20 Volví a sentirme descorazonado de haber trabajado tanto bajo el sol, 21 pues hay quienes ponen a trabajar su sabiduría y sus conocimientos y experiencia, para luego entregarle todos sus bienes a quien jamás movió un dedo. ¡Y también esto es vanidad y una enorme desgracia! 22 Pues, ¿qué gana el hombre con todos sus esfuerzos y con tanto preocuparse y afanarse bajo el sol? 23 Todos sus días están plagados de sufrimientos y tareas frustrantes; ni siquiera de noche descansa su mente. ¡Y también esto es vanidad!
24 Nada hay mejor para el hombre que comer, beber y llegar a disfrutar de sus afanes. He visto que también esto proviene de Dios, 25 porque ¿quién puede comer y alegrarse, si no es por Dios?[b] 26 En realidad, Dios da sabiduría, conocimientos y alegría a quien es de su agrado; en cambio, al pecador le impone la tarea de acumular más y más, para luego dárselo todo a quien es de su agrado. Y también esto es vanidad; ¡es correr tras el viento!
Ecclesiastes 2
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2
New International Version
Pleasures Are Meaningless
2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure(A) to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,”(B) I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine,(C) and embracing folly(D)—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself(E) and planted vineyards.(F) 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves(G) who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold(H) for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.(I) I acquired male and female singers,(J) and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem(K) before me.(L) In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;(M)
nothing was gained under the sun.(N)
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.(O)
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?(P)
13 I saw that wisdom(Q) is better than folly,(R)
just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.(S)
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”(T)
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(U)
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(V)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(W)
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.(X) 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.(Y) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(Z) 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. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?(AA) 23 All their days their work is grief and pain;(AB) even at night their minds do not rest.(AC) This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink(AD) and find satisfaction in their own toil.(AE) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,(AF) 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?(AG) 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,(AH) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth(AI) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.(AJ) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Ecclesiastes 2
Revised Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 2
Revised Standard Version
The Futility of Self-Indulgence
2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines,[a] man’s delight.
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Joy Given to One Who Pleases God
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what he has already done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. 14 The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I perceived that one fate comes to all of them. 15 Then I said to myself, “What befalls the fool will befall me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise man as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise man dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
18 I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me; 19 and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For all his days are full of pain, and his work is a vexation; even in the night his mind does not rest. This also is vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; 25 for apart from him[b] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Ecclesiastes 2:25 Gk Syr: Heb apart from me
Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI) 
Santa Biblia, NUEVA VERSIÓN INTERNACIONAL® NVI® © 1999, 2015, 2022 por Biblica, Inc.®, Inc.® Usado con permiso de Biblica, Inc.® Reservados todos los derechos en todo el mundo. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
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.
More on the NIV
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.